Three Times
by Kadasa-Mori
Summary: COMPLETE - AU “And if you say his name three times, he jumps out and eats your heart!” Sarah Williams never really want to believe in the terror that is ghost stories. Unfortunately, her luck in trying not to believe just ran out. J/S
1. The Story

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Jareth, Sarah or the idea of the Labyrinth/Underground. Pretty much everything else is mine. Now if only I could make a profit off of this…

**Summary:** "And if you say his name three times, he jumps out and eats your heart!" Sarah Williams never really want to believe in the terror that is ghost stories. Unfortunately, her luck in trying not to believe just ran out. J/S

**Warning:** Characters may be extremely out of character. There will be much oc-ness. May contain very bloody scenes.

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**Three Times**

**By: Kadasa Mori **

**Part I – The Story**

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"No Kira! Don't be stupid!"

Sighing heavily as Kira began arguing loudly with the person who'd just scolded her, Sarah Williams glanced in the mirror of the bathroom, pulling her hair back into a ponytail. She'd invited her friends over for dinner and a movie but unfortunately the power had gone out so they needed new ways to amuse themselves.

Kira of course, the older sister of the twins Kira and Kara, wanted to tell ghost stories, knowing Sarah's fear of the supernatural. Sarah could watch a movie about werewolves and aliens no problem, but once it came to ghosts… Werewolves and aliens could be killed. Ghosts were already dead. She shuddered, splashing water on her face before picking up her candle and returning to the living room.

Kira sat in a chair tugged from the dining room table, opposite the corner couch everyone else sat at. Candles were everywhere, probably a fire hazard, but at least everyone could see everyone else (and 

where the coffee table was) so no injuries were to be had. Kira turned, grinning at Sarah as the brunette walked back in. "Sarah… wanna hear a story?"

"Kira!" her sister scolded angrily. "I said no!"

"Aw come on Kara! Just one!"

"I said no!"

Valdis snorted, leaning back into the couch cushions. "Sarah will call you up at two in the morning again Kira," she spoke, annoyed and twirling short navy hair around a finger.

"I will not!" Sarah protested, flopping between Valdis and Evie, the other girl leaning against her boyfriend Ryuu who sat in the corner of the couch, Haimon on his right, followed by Jason and Kara. Alan, Kira's boyfriend, would have been there but he had work that evening. The last two members of the group, Toroku and his fiancée Samra, were attending their niece's birthday party.

"Yes you will," Evie informed happily at the glowering look on her face.

Sarah scowled at her then turned to Kira. "Just tell the story!"

"You sure?" Kira asked. "I mean, I don't want you to be scared or anything."

"Just tell it!"

"All right." She shifted to make herself comfortable. "This is a true story." Valdis and Kara snorted at that but didn't speak.

"Once there was a young man. His name was Jareth and he was the King of a beautiful land filled with creatures and humans living in peace. He was a fae, kind of like an elf but prettier (Kara snorted) with hair as dark as the night and beautiful blue eyes. Anyway, he ruled his lands fairly and everyone loved him for it. One day, he fell in love with a beautiful young girl-"

"This a love story or a ghost story Kira?" Haimon asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Shut up! I'm getting there. Anyway, he fell in love with this girl. He watched her pick flowers in her garden every day, trying to gain up the courage to go tell her how he felt. He finally worked up the courage and made his way down to her cottage where she sat out in the flowers.

"'_Young_ _lady_,' he said, '_I've_ _fallen_ _in_ _love_ _with_ _you_. _You_ _are_ _beautiful_ _and_ _I_ _wonder_ _if_ _you_ _would_ _come_ _live_ _with_ _me_ _in_ _my_ _castle_.'

"She smiled back at him and nodded, holding her hand out. As soon as his hand touched hers she turned into an ugly witch and cackled. '_What_ _trickery_ _is_ _this_?!' he cried out.

"'_I've_ _been_ _waiting_ _for_ _you_ _my_ _king_!' she laughed. '_It's time_.' With that she squeezed his wrist and he fell unconscious. When he awoke, he was back in his room.

"'_It was all a dream_,' he whispered, '_just a dream_.' He got to his feet and stumbled for the door but a flash of gold caught his attention. He walked over to his mirror and found his dark haired self staring back at him, when suddenly his reflection changed.

"His eyes glowed brightly as though possessed and his hair burned golden. His reflection grinned cruelly, fangs extending and arms reaching for him. He gasped as they passed through the mirror and grabbed his neck, dragging him forward as the monster flew into him, both becoming one being.

"With a scream he released all of his power, knocking him out once more. Awakening hours later, he got to his feet and found he'd been transformed into the monster. He stumbled to his window and found his lands had also been transformed into a hideous labyrinth, goblins for citizens and monsters roaming the forests.

"A tap against the floor behind him made him spin quickly. The old witch stood there, cackling fiercely. '_What have to you done to me and my kingdom_?!' he shouted.

"'_Do you want to fix it?' _

"'_Of course!' _

"'_Then you must do something for me…' _

"'_Name it!' _

"'_You must send a message to a young girl's subconscious. You must tell her to step in front of a mirror and speak the words "I wish the goblin king was here" then your name _three_ times, uninterrupted. If she does so, you are allowed safe passage into her world. Once you get there, you must bring me back her heart. If you do, then I shall release the spell, but only if you bring me her_ heart.' The old witch held out a gleaming dagger. Once he took it, she cackled and disappeared.

"And so, to rid his lands and himself of this evil, he did as she asked, picking a maiden from another land and whispering to her at night, the instructions to summon him. The next evening, she stood in front of the mirror, whispered the words and he stepped into the room with her.

"Being the kind girl she was, she offered him tea and turned to go and get it. He raised the dagger high and after a moment's hesitation, plunged it down to meet her back. She let out a soft gasp, stumbling and hitting the ground. He pulled the dagger out of her back and stared at the blood dripping off of it, then at her.

"He touched his cheek, looking at blood covered fingers then licking them. After a moment he stepped towards the dying girl and flipped her over, knife plunging down. He pulled her heart from her chest and stood, intending on bringing it back to the witch but the scent of blood was too much.

"When he returned, the witch was standing in front of the window. She turned. '_Where's my heart_?' she demanded, seeing his hands empty.

"He grinned wickedly, blood coating his lips and dripping from his fangs. The witch's eyes widened as he flew forward, fingers forming claws that tore into her flesh, pulling her heart from her chest. He didn't eat it for it was tainted black and smelled vulgar, but he tossed it to his goblins, cackling as they tore into it and the witch's body.

"'_Now, time for some fun_.' He raised a hand to the mirror, running a hand over it lovingly as it brought up the image of another young girl. A vicious grin spread over his face. '_Just wish for me darling and all your dreams may come true_,' he whispered.

"He spends his days locked away in his tower, gloves to hide the bloody claws on his hands, always wearing black to conceal the blood stains on his clothes, eyes and hair wild. He whispers to young women in their sleep to call for him, to stand in front of the mirror and wish for the goblin king…

"And if you say his name three times," Kira whispered, all eyes glued to her, wide and fearful. "He… jumps out and eats your heart!" she shrieked, leaping at Kara who screamed shrilly, Sarah and Valdis shrieking and hugging each other tightly. Jason leapt away from the blond who'd just been attacked, landing in Haimon's lap, the man yelping, leaning away into Ryuu who raised an eyebrow, Evie's eyes wide, face pale and arms wrapped around his arm tightly.

Kira let out a shriek of laughter, sitting back in her chair. "You guys! You… were… so… scared!"

Kara has nearly hyperventilating, Haimon regaining his senses and shoving Jason off of him. Sarah and Valdis glanced at each other then leapt away. Ryuu glanced down at Evie who lost her death grip on him but still stuck close.

"Argh!" Kara leapt from her seat and flew at Kira, sending her sister screaming as her chair tilted backwards, both rolling over the floor.

Sarah took a deep breath, calming her quaking then shook her head, getting to her feet. "That was a stupid story Kira," she announced.

"Oh yeah?!" Kira cried from her head locked position in Kara's arms. "Why don't _you_ go and do it."

Sarah scowled. "No. I'm not gonna-"

"Chicken!" Kira and Jason chimed.

Sarah's eyes flashed. "I am not!"

"Bawk! Baaaaaaaaaw-ouch!" Jason rubbed his head, Kara's arm lowering and releasing Kira.

"Don't tease Sarah just because she's too chicken to do it."

"That's ri-Kara!"

"Come on Sarah," Kira said. "You do it and we'll buy that necklace you've been eyeing."

Sarah shifted uneasily then sighed heavily. "I hate you all."

Grinning they scrambled to their feet and followed her down the hall to her bathroom. No one else stepped into the room but the sliding doors opened wide enough for them to peer in. She shifted and swallowed, opening her mouth.

"I wish the Goblin King was here right now." She spoke loudly, heart beating fast. When a flash of blond appeared in the mirror, she nearly forgot the next words. "Jareth… Jareth… Jar-"

"_Oh when you're down and looking for some cheering up, then just head right on up to the candy mountain cave!" _

Gasping, she jumped back away from the mirror and looked at the doorway quickly. Jason wailed. "I'm sorry!" he cried, pulling his cell phone out. "What?!" he whined into the speaker, walking off. "_What_? Hooooonou! What's your problem?!"

Valdis snorted and turned, walking towards the kitchen. "Well that was boring," Kara announced, Haimon nodding his agreement both following Valdis.

"That was scary!" Evie cried. "My heart was beating so fast!" Ryuu nodded, her hand tugging on his leading him to the kitchen.

Kira pouted. "Oh well… nothing happened probably because you didn't finish it, or cause you're supposed to do it at night. I'll only chip in to help pay for your pretty jewelry."

Sarah stared at the mirror then turned as the words registered. "Oh… nah. It's okay Kira. I'll just keep saving for it."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Come on," she wrapped an arm around the blond. "You can help buy pizza though."

Kira sighed. "That costs almost as much!"

Sarah laughed. "If you weren't friends with Jason, we'd probably save about fifty bucks every time we ordered food."

"I heard that!"

Giggling and walking away, the mirror was forgotten.

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**To all readers and reviewers, **

First off, thanks for reading!

Secondly, a slight warning, this story will probably make no sense at times seeing as how there's really no a plot. I don't intend for this to become a bajillion chapter story like Heal Me Hurt Me, just a few chapters. Unfortunately I have no expertise in the 'simplicity' in stories, so I apologize in advance for any confusion that may occur.

Thanks again and enjoy!

**Kadasa Mori**

**P.S.** Jason's ringtone is the beginning of the "Candy Mountain Cave" song. I'm not sure who made it but if you look up "_Charlie the Unicorn: Candy Mountain_" you'll find it.


	2. The Chant

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Jareth, Sarah or the idea of the Labyrinth/Underground. Pretty much everything else is mine. Now if only I could make a profit off of this…

**Summary:** (AU) "And if you say his name three times, he jumps out and eats your heart!" Sarah Williams never really want to believe in the terror that is ghost stories. Unfortunately, her luck in trying not to believe just ran out. J/S

**Warning:** Characters may be extremely out of character. There will be much oc-ness. May contain very bloody scenes.

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**Three Times**

**By: Kadasa Mori **

**Part II – The Chant**

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A few hours later, chasing her friends out of the house and getting changed for bed, Sarah found herself eating oreos in the kitchen, watching the eleven o'clock news. It was all about robberies, shootings, government officials and whether or not it would rain in the following days. She glanced at the clock and sighed. "Time for bed…" She closed the cookies, putting them back in the cupboard and walked towards her room.

Walking past the bathroom, Sarah paused. She shook her head. "No… it's only a story…" Even so, she spun on her heel, walking back into the room. She stared at the mirror, heart beating heavily in her chest. All she could see was long brown hair falling to her waist and green eyes staring back at her. She shifted, silky emerald pajama pants catching the light and echoing in the mirror.

A bark sounded and she leapt three feet in the air, spinning to find Merlin standing in the doorway, wagging. "Merlin! Go!" He woofed again and trotted off.

She turned back to the mirror and scowled. "Oh Sarah! Stop being ridiculous!" She reached over and switched off the lights, only the light from the moon outside allowing her to see. She slid the door to the back porch open and stared up at the moon momentarily before walking back to the mirror and taking a deep breath, heart pounding against her chest.

"I wish the Goblin King was here right now," she spoke slowly, the wind outside picking up. "Jareth…" It was getting faster as though trying to steal her breath. "Jareth." She winced at the gale storm in her bathroom. "Jareth!" she screamed, hardly hearing herself over the noise.

Her heart beat heavily in her chest, ears blocking out all noise. She blinked as she realized there was _no noise_. She pulled her hands from her ears and looked around, the wind gone. She looked in the mirror and only saw her pale reflection staring back at her. She unclasped her hands from her shirt and took a deep breath, shaking her head. "I'm an idiot," she murmured, turning to step out of the bathroom.

The tap of a shoe behind her made her freeze, a whisper of leather against her bare arms, pale hair falling over her shoulders. "Thank you Sarah," a cool voice whispered in her ear.

She spun quickly, eyes darting around but finding no one else in the bathroom. Swallowing, she stepped back, running into someone. She shrieked loudly, spinning and falling to the ground. Hands grabbed her arms, but the person fell as well.

"Damn it Sarah! Are you trying to kill me?" Kara cried.

Sarah felt herself hyperventilating and mentally urged herself to calm down as she spotted Kara on her knees in front of her, wincing and rubbing the spot she fell on, Jason standing in the doorway looking worried.

"What are you doing in the dark?" Jason asked, flipping the lights on.

Sarah shook her head, rubbed her temples. "Nothing… nothing…"

"Sarah…" Kara glanced between her and the mirror then grinned slyly. "Were you… talking to the mirror again?"

Sarah shot her a dark look, twitching lips on the strawberry blond the only indication of hidden laughter. Jason had no problem hiding that and was shot an unforgiving look from Sarah. "No!" she cried stubbornly. "I was doing no such thing!"

Jason held out a hand, Kara grabbing it and getting to her feet, a soft giggle escaping her. "All right Sarah. We believe you."

Sarah took the offered hand, bouncing to her feet. "No you don't! That's the problem!"

"I'm sorry Sarah. It's just… too funny!"

"Shuddup! What do you want?"

"Oh. Jason forgot his keys. We had to come back and get them to get our stuff out of the car before we could go to sleep."

"Hmph. Well get them and get out of my house!"

"Right, right."

She followed them into the kitchen, Jason grabbing the keys in the fruit bowl – how they got _there_ she didn't know – and heading for the door. "So your Goblin King show up?" Jason asked with a grin.

"No. And he won't. I told you all it's just a stupid story."

"Right…" Jason winked. "Try not to call Kira up in hysterics when you think there's a monster in your room tonight eh?"

She flushed. "I did that _once_! And that was all _your_ fault Jason!" He gave her what he thought was an innocent look but the victorious grin alighting his features destroyed all thought of innocence.

Kara grinned and patted her shoulder. "Good night Sarah."

Sarah grumbled something not very nice and shut the door after her, stomping back through the house and turning all the lights off and making sure things were picked up. "Merlin!" she called. "Some watch dog you are! People in the house and you can't even tell they're here!"

There was a creaking on the step behind her and she spun to yell at Jason for scaring her only to pause seeing no one. Frowning and rolling her eyes she climbed the rest of the stairs and walked down the hallway to her bedroom.

"Time for bed…" she murmured, releasing her hair from its ponytail and feeling it smack the base of her back. Stretching she headed for the window and looked down at the lawn. A creak behind her made her sigh. "Merlin. Go to sleep."

There was no noise so she'd assumed he'd gone to lay down when something white in the back yard made her pause then stiffen, Merlin trotting along the outer edges of the fence. Turning slowly she looked around the room, finding no one there.

Taking a deep breath, she walked over to her door and glanced out, then shut it. "Tsk. Tsk." She froze, one hand on the doorknob, the other on the back of the door. "You're limiting your escape routes," a cool voice murmured behind her.

She spun and nearly fainted, eyes meeting mismatched gaze framed by wild blond hair. "W-w-who are you?!" she cried, hand fumbling behind her to twist the doorknob.

He smirked wickedly. "You should know by now Sarah…" He took a step forward, boots making little noise against her carpet. "You've said my names three times."

She inhaled sharply to scream but the doorknob twisted open behind her and she flew out of the room and down the stairs, nearly falling and breaking her neck when she got to the bottom. "MERLIN!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

She heard the dog barking wildly and she raced for the back door but the Goblin King was leaning against the wall, smirking. The front door flew open and his smirk fell into a scowl, but she didn't see as she spun and raced for whomever it was.

"Sarah!" Kara scolded as she raced around the corner, hair messy and wearing pajamas. "Merlin's gonna wake up everyone on the street!"

"Kara!" Sarah cried, arms wrapping around her tightly and shaking violently, nearly knocking the girl over for the second time that evening. Kara yelped as she hit the wall and slid down to the floor with the brunette "It's not a story! It's not a story!!"

Kara blinked as Jason stepped around her to let the frantic dog inside. "What?! What's not a story? Damn it Sarah! You're as white as a sheet! You look like you've seen a ghost! And…" Realization dawned and Kara scowled. "Sarah! Are you scaring yourself again? Damn it! I'm gonna kill Kira! She knows how these stories affect you!"

Sarah shook her lightly. "Kara! I'm not lying! He's here! He's real!"

"Who?"

"The G-Goblin King!"

Jason snorted but quickly covered it up. Kara shot him a glare but turned back to the frantic brunette. "Sarah… he's not real… he's just a made up character. That's it."

Sarah shook her head. "No… no! I saw him! I saw him and he was talking to me and-and I went to get Merlin and he was there and you guys came and-and-and…"

Kara sighed heavily. "Come on Sarah… we can go check your room and make sure there's no one here."

Sarah followed her upstairs, jerking at every sound, Kara holding her hand tightly. Entering her room, Kara flipped on the lights. Sarah frowned immediately. Her computer, which had been on, was turned off, a signal she'd been ready to climb into bed. The doors to her balcony were shut and locked, fan on high and bed messy as though she'd just climbed out of it.

"Sarah?... were you sleeping?"

"I… no… I…" She frowned and rubbed her forehead. "No… I don't think so."

Kara sighed and gave her a hug. "Get some rest Sarah. It was just a dream."

"Yeah…. Yeah…" She walked Kara back downstairs, patting Merlin's head, the dog curled up on the couch and fast asleep. "Thanks for coming by you guys… but how did you know Merlin was barking?"

"We were at the neighbor's house remember? Jason promised to help them out tomorrow-well today-morning?"

Sarah rubbed her temples with a short laugh. "I might… in the morning… maybe I had a drink or something before bed."

Jason grinned and ruffled her hair. "Happens to the best of us."

She stuck her tongue out and gave Kara another hug before waving them away. With a sigh she shut the door and rested her forehead against it, enjoying the coolness spreading across her skin. Things weren't adding up and her brain was rattled. The last thing she recalled was getting ready for bed right after Kara and Jason left. They then show up five minutes later, dressed for bed. Sarah knew Jason could get ready in three minutes but it took five minutes just to walk to the neighbors' house… After a moment of confusion, she turned and murmured a good night to Merlin.

Making her way back up the stairs for the third time that night, she literally crawled into her room and onto her bed, not bothering to lie the right way or turn the lights off. They did that by themselves.

She frowned at that thought and glanced over at the lamp, then the light switch. _When did I install 'think' lights?_ she asked herself, shrugged and rolled onto her back.

Something tickled her face and she slowly opened her eyes only to inhale sharply, a face staring back at her own. A leather gloved hand covered her mouth before she could scream.

"Now, now dear Sarah," he drawled, a dark smirk covering his face. "Did you really think you dreamt me up?"

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**To all readers and reviewers, **

Are you confused?

So am I. Good. That was the goal.

And I do apologize for the cliffhanger. I was going to add more but I was like "dude. That is a wicked awesome ending to a chapter. Hopefully I won't be killed for ending it like that."

So yeah, please don't kill me for if I die my ghost cannot press buttons on the keyboard and therefore cannot finish the story. (_hides under desk_)

**Kadasa Mori**


	3. The Result

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Jareth, Sarah or the idea of the Labyrinth/Underground. Pretty much everything else is mine. Now if only I could make a profit off of this…

**Summary:** AU "And if you say his name three times, he jumps out and eats your heart!" Sarah Williams never really want to believe in the terror that is ghost stories. Unfortunately, her luck in trying not to believe just ran out. J/S

**Warning:** Characters may be extremely out of character. There will be much oc-ness. May contain very bloody scenes.

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**Three Times**

**By: Kadasa Mori **

**Part III – The Result**

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Leather glove covering her mouth and restricting air for the much needed scream to release, Sarah panicked. In some corner of her mind she was telling herself that she needed to go beat up Kira for ever telling the stupid ghost story, then Kara and Jason for leaving her by herself, and finally Merlin for not rescuing her and being a lazy dog. She knew she wouldn't ever land a punch on the man who seemed to be trying to suffocate her so he wasn't added.

But back to the suffocating… that was bad yes? Realizing that the only way to get sweet air back into her lungs would be to remove the hand on her face, she extended her nails (which wouldn't help at all really because she was always ripping them off) and embedded them into the glove. She clawed at the hand and he seemed to realize she needed air soon.

"If you promise not to scream I'll let you go…" She nodded and he released his hand. She darted off the bed and raced towards the door letting out a shrill shriek. The door slammed closed in front of her and she grabbed 

the doorknob, trying to open it but to no avail. "I thought you just promised not to scream," he stated coolly, sitting on the edge of her bed, propping himself up with his hands.

"That wasn't a scream," she snapped angrily. "It was a shriek. Now let me go!"

"Oh no dear Sarah," she jumped as he was suddenly leaning against the wall beside her. As she vaulted back, he sent her a cool look. "You released me therefore I need to grant you a favor."

"Favor?" she asked curiously, but still keeping her distance. "Like a rake your lawn for free favor? Or an 'I'll-kill-someone-for-you' favor?"

"I detest manual labor," he stated then sent her a cool look. "But I'm up for killing. Someone in mind?"

"One of my friends," she muttered angrily, "for telling me about you, but otherwise no."

"Ah… well I couldn't kill her anyway. She helped to release me."

Sarah took another step back, even closer to the baseball bat leaning against the dresser. "Oh? Well wouldn't you owe her a favor as well?" She glanced back at him, but he'd disappeared.

The bat tapped her shoulder and she spun. He twirled the bat in his hand. "No. _You_ released me, therefore I only owe _you_ the favor."

"Hm…" She glanced between the bat and the door behind her, wondering how he could move so fast. _Well duh… he's a demon thing…_ He raised an eyebrow as she stared at him. She mentally whacked herself. _Less thinking more demanding why he's here._

"Why are you here?"

_Smooth Captain Tack…_

"I'm here because you summoned me, releasing me from that _disgusting_ prison beyond the mirror." He swung the bat carelessly and her heart leapt into her throat as it raced for a rather breakable vase. At the last minute it disappeared, knocking lightly against the dresser in its original resting place. "And for that I owe you a favor." He paused. "I feel as though we've already covered this…"

"Indeed." _Last tactic. Tell him to leave._ "Well, I need sleep and you need to go away."

"Hm…"

"Look. If you don't leave I'll-"

"You'll do what?" He grinned cruelly, eyes darkening and she stepped back automatically. "If you've forgotten already, I'm supposed to be eating your heart." He stepped towards her, twirling a strand of her hair around his finger. "Add that to the fact that I can make your life a living hell before you blink and I'll assume you won't threaten me anymore." She trembled in what he originally thought was fear but now could see it was repressed anger, eyes narrowed and glaring at him. He glanced over her once then turned on his heel. "Until next time." He waved a hand, the door opening and letting him out.

She scowled at the door. _Traitor…_ Glancing down the hallway she frowned, not seeing him anywhere. Something tapped the back of her head and she spun, finding him smirking down at her. "What?" she asked nervously.

"Forgot one thing."

There was a pounding noise at the back of her brain. She frowned darkly. "And that is?"

"Good night." He placed a finger against the middle of her forehead and pushed gently.

"Sarah! Good god! Wake the hell up!"

Sarah's eyes flashed open and she found Kira standing above her, arms crossed angrily. "I've been trying to call you for an hour! Why are you still in bed?!" Sarah glanced at the clock reading '4.53pm' She looked at the window quickly and found the sun low in the sky.

Kira walked over to her closet, throwing random things out. "Kara called me up and told me you had a bad dream last night. Damn it. You should know better than to listen to my stories Sarah!"

Sarah frowned, trying to piece together her night. She couldn't remember what went in what order. "I…"

"You-" The lost look on her face must've stopped whatever else was coming from the blonde's mouth. "Go get showered and then we'll talk."

Twenty minutes later, Sarah sat at her breakfast bar, staring out the window. Kira set a sandwich in front of her, sitting across the bar with her own. "So… what happened last night?"

"I did it."

Kira raised an eyebrow, biting into her sandwich. "Did what?"

"Called him. The Goblin King."

Kira snorted, almost choking on her sandwich. "Is that why you had nightmares?"

"He was here Kira."

Kira giggled, then spotted the look on her face. "Sarah… you're not serious." Sarah just stared and Kira groaned. "We've gone over this before Sarah. Ghosts and things aren't real. It's just your imagination playing tricks on you.

"No. He _was here_."

Kira sighed and rubbed her temples. "Sarah. You really need to get rid of this overactive imagination."

Sarah scowled at her. "I'm not lying Kira!!"

"Yeah Kira!" Jason's arms suddenly landed on the blonde's head. "Why would Sarah ever lie about anything?"

"Jason?" Kira asked. "So that means Kara's here too?"

"Yup." She smacked her sister upside the head. "You scared Sarah last night. She was convinced her Goblin King was here."

"Yeah. She's telling me that now."

"He is here!" Sarah shrieked, nearly falling backwards out of her chair. "Turn around and you'll see!"

"Har har," Kira rolled her eyes. "I may be blond but I ain't stupid enough to fall for that trick."

"Yeah!" Jason chirped, tossing a chip into his mouth. "And even if he was here, wouldn't he be trying to eat your heart?"

"And why would I try to do that to my savior?" a cool voice spoke out. Kira, Jason and Kara spun around only to choke (Jason), shriek (Kira and Kara) and back up quickly at the blond haired man leaning against the wall behind them. Jareth smirked.

"Damn it! You're real!" Jason shouted, the first to recover.

Jareth let out a bark of laughter and leaned away from the wall, stepping towards them. Jason stiffened, Kira backing up. "You can't have Sarah!" Kara shouted angrily. Jareth's eyes flashed dangerously but he stopped moving. A blink later he was in front of Kara, a finger under her jaw.

"Sarah wished for me," he murmured. "You can't do anything." With that he took a step back, disappearing again. Sarah yelped as he appeared behind her. "Well… what's for dinner?"

She blinked then her eye twitched. "Get your own food!" she shouted, spinning around and ignoring him.

He stepped in front of her. "It would not be polite."

"I don't care. Get your own food and stop bothering me. I'm talking with my friends."

"Tell your friends to go away. I'm hungry."

She growled. "This is _my_ house. I'll do as I please. Now step aside so I may speak with my friends." When he didn't move she growled. "_Now_."

"Want to know why you slept all day?" he asked suddenly.

She blinked. "Huh?"

"You slept all day Sarah?" Jason asked, munching chips and looking between the two, totally at ease. Kira and Kara were still wary, Kara's hands inching towards the metal pot nearby.

Jareth disappeared, reappearing in front of the fridge. "You slept all day because you used so much power getting me here."

"_I_ used power?" Sarah asked in slight shock. "I don't have power!"

Jareth pulled out a package of cheese, cocking his head. "Sure you do." He glanced at Merlin who was sitting beside him wagging. "You just didn't know it till now." He pulled out a piece of cheese and handed it to the dog.

"Don't feed him!" Sarah snapped, hurrying around her no-longer-afraid-now-amused-at-her-expense friends and bumping him away from the fridge. "He's on a diet!"

Jareth raised an eyebrow, then leaned around her and looked at the dog. "Poor thing."

She snatched the cheese back from him and opened the freezer. "Want fish sticks?"

"Fish… sticks?"

"That's what you're getting." She pulled out the box, dropped the entire bag into the toaster oven and turned it on high.

Jareth leaned around her, watching it glow. "What is that thing?"

"It's a toaster oven. It cooks your food."

"Fascinating."

She turned and scowled at the sarcastic remark but his eyes hadn't left the machine and there was no smirk on his face. "You really didn't know what it was?"

He glanced at her then sighed irritably, leaning against the counter. "My dear. I've been stuck in that prison for about nine hundred years. Humankind has changed quite drastically since I've last been here."

"Nine hundred?" Jason asked incredulously. "Dude! Are you immortal?"

"No. I'm fae. We live long lives."

"Obviously," Kara said dryly, stealing the bag of chips Jason held, ignoring his wail. "But what's a fae?"

"Think elf but in a higher position in the government."

"You have a government?"

"The Underground isn't so different than the Aboveground where you live. We just don't have contact with the Aboveground."

"Except to eat people's hearts right?" Kira chirped.

Jareth slowly smirked. "Right…"

"How many hearts have you eaten?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"Yes I would. That's why I asked."

"Fish sticks are done." Sarah grumbled, pulling mitts on and throwing them onto a plate. She held it out to Jareth who raised an eyebrow and carefully took it. "Now, you three-"

"Oh damn!" Kara cried. "Just forgot! We've something to do! Come on Jason! Let's go Kira!"

Kira blinked as Kara pushed Jason out of the kitchen. "I've got nothing to do-"

She grabbed the back of her sister's shirt. "Let's _go_ Kira."

Sarah blinked after them, Jareth watching in amusement, munching on the fish sticks. "You… you're all horrible friends!" she shouted, hurrying after them to the door as they got into the car and drove off. "I hate you all!"

"Bye Sarah!" Jason called, waving out the window as they disappeared.

Sarah shook in silent fury then stomped back into the house, slamming the door. "They were rather odd," Jareth remarked. "Is that why you're so weird?"

"Shut it fairy!"

His eyes narrowed darkly. "_Excuse_ me?"

"Fairy! Fae! Elf! Whatever you are! Shut it and leave me alone!"

He smirked and took a seat on the couch. "No. I don't think I will. I'm quite comfortable you know."

"No I _don't_ know seeing as how I'm not sitting on someone else's couch even though I'm supposedly a different species from another world!"

"Not another world, love. Just another layer."

"Whatever!" She stomped off towards the stairs then stiffened and spun around. "And don't call me that!"

"Whatever you say." He waited until she got far enough away. "Love."

There was a muffled scream and he smirked darkly. Life was gonna be fun for awhile.

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She was staring at him. Jareth scowled, looking out the window. He was started to get annoyed, a tick at his left eyebrow and fingers tapping against his bicep. After a few more minutes, he couldn't take it and turned to her lazily. "What?"

"What happened last night?"

He raised an elegant eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"I thought I was going insane. There were all these signs of sleep but I don't recall ever falling asleep…"

He sighed and turning, leaning against the cool glass. "You called me out and I stepped out in time for your friends to appear. Believe it or not you were in the bathroom for about an hour. The time changed because of the power you were using. After those two left, a little after midnight, you went around turning everything off. You went upstairs and turned everything off and fell asleep for a few hours. The dog wanted to go outside so you went downstairs, let him out and sat on the couch to wait, fell asleep, woke up, went upstairs and I spooked you-" he pretended not to see the scowl "-and those two came back because of the dog. They calmed you down and I waited in your room till you came back. We chatted-"

"More like you threatened me…"

He ignored her. "-and you fell back to sleep because of the amount of power calling me took out of you. That girl came back before dinner to yell at you cause you hadn't been answering the phone. That's all that happened."

She frowned. "My brain is so scrambled…"

"That tends to happen."

She looked up sharply. "You've been called before?"

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "More times than I care to admit."

"Then why are you still locked behind the mirror?!"

"Because…" he trailed off. The clock chimed and both turned to it. He stood with a sigh, stretching. "Well. It's eleven and I believe that you should go to sleep. You'll be out once you hit the pillow. Yesterday's sleep wasn't enough to fully recover you."

"What?! I slept for like 16 hours today!"

"Well nearly 20 is needed. So go. Off to bed."

She scowled. "Don't treat me like I'm five!"

"Whatever you say, love. Now off to bed."

"Goblin King! Don't-" He reached out quickly and she yelped as his hand grabbed her arm. The living room disappeared, her bedroom reappearing. "What the hell was that?!"

"That was me being awesome. Now, go to sleep." He turned on his heel and disappeared.

She blinked, suddenly realizing she really had no power over him if he could disappear and suddenly reappear, like someone from Harry Potter. She changed quickly and lay down, asleep before she even knew it happened.

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**To all readers and reviewers, **

Yes I know. You're all going 'what the hell?!' Well it'll be explained later on. Hopefully… if I remember…

I apologize for the long wait. This was supposed to be up two weeks ago but I've been working like crazy lots so fanfic hath been abandoned for the past few weeks. T.T I weep in sorrow…

So, yeah. The beginning started out all drama-like, but this is a humor fic so it will begin to get more humorous in the upcoming chapters. Jason will rock our socks with funny and Jareth and Sarah will argue like there's no tomorrow.

Till then!

**Kadasa Mori**

P.S. When I went back through this I realized that while Jareth didn't know what a toaster oven was, he knew what the refrigerator was so as an explanation, he watched Kira get food out of the fridge to make sandwiches so he knew that's where the food came from. Good? Yes? Awesome.


	4. The Dinner

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Jareth, Sarah or the idea of the Labyrinth/Underground. Pretty much everything else is mine. Now if only I could make a profit off of this…

**Summary:** AU "And if you say his name three times, he jumps out and eats your heart!" Sarah Williams never really want to believe in the terror that is ghost stories. Unfortunately, her luck in trying not to believe just ran out. J/S

**Warning:** Characters may be extremely out of character. There will be much oc-ness. May contain very bloody scenes.

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**Three Times**

**By: Kadasa Mori **

**Part IV – The Dinner**

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She was lounging on the beach, wind blowing over sun kissed skin, the sand warm beneath her and the ocean waves creating a pleasant lullaby. She stretched widely feeling a slight itching sensation from the sand and coolness when the wind brushed against spots that had been sunk within the sand.

_Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

She sat up quickly and looked around. "Who the hell brought an alarm clock to the beach?!" It faded after a few minutes of irritating noise and she snuggled back into her sand bed and stretched happily.

She did let out a shriek when loud music screamed into her ear and sat up quickly looking around her bedroom. She turned to her cell phone going off and recognized the "Hamster Dance" music. Scowling, taking a good guess at who it was, she plucked the phone up and flipped it open.

"Thank you for changing my ringtone Kira."

She could _hear_ the woman's grin. "_Gooooooooooooooood morning Sarah_!"

"What the hell do you want?"

"_Well, seeing as how the sun's up and your alarm went off for five minutes and you didn't get up, I thought I should probably call to make sure you didn't go back to sleep_."

"… and how would you know my alarm went off?"

"_Take a gander at where I am right now_."

Sarah moaned and rubbed her forehead. "Tell Jason not to eat all my food."

"_Jason! Put that back where you found it-never mind. Finish eating it, then go sit and watch cartoons_."

Sarah hung up on the girl and stumbled for the shower. Only after she was out and dressed, rubbing at her hair with a towel did she realized the newest addition to the household was missing…

Frowning, she headed downstairs where Jason sat two feet from the television, laughing at Buzz Lightyear, Kara sprawled on the couch behind him out cold. She turned the corner and walked to the kitchen and found Kira sitting at the breakfast bar, kicking her feet and doing the crossword in the newspaper.

"Where's the Goblin King?"

Kira shrugged. "Figured he'd be with you. Haven't seen him all morning."

"And _how_ long have you been here?"

"Bout 45 minutes. We let you sleep an extra ten after your alarm stopped going off."

"Thanks for that."

"You're quite welcome. Oh, and sorry to say, Jason ate all of your Corn Puffs."

Sarah just waved a hand and headed for the cabinet to make herself breakfast. "Good morning Sarah." She let out a shriek of surprise, spinning to find the Goblin King right behind her.

Kara shrieked from the living room, falling off the couch but Sarah was too busy trying to jumpstart her heart to breathe again to notice. Jason didn't remove his eyes from the TV and Kira smirked, looking between her sister and Sarah as to figure out which was more entertaining.

"The hell?!" Sarah cried, pushing at his chest to get him to give her at least two feet of personal space. "What's your problem?"

"I was merely wishing you a good morning," he said pleasantly with an innocent look on his face.

"Aw," Kira cooed from the counter. Sarah mentally threw an atomic bomb at her blond haired friend but kept her focus on the blond in front of her.

"Well Goblin King. There are a few things required for a good morning; personal space, not causing heart attacks and going the hell away."

"Well the first cannot be helped seeing as how I must stick with you, for your protection of course, the second could be dealt with but is too much fun to give up and the third won't be happening anytime soon."

"And why the hell not?"

"Because you're too cute." He winked and to her horror she felt her cheeks burn.

"Augh! Go away!" She grabbed her cereal and stomped into the living room, flopping onto the couch, Kara had just crawled back onto. The strawberry blond fell off again and moaned but didn't remove her face from the carpet, probably hoping it would suffocate her.

"Hey!" Jason chirped. "When'd the Goblin King get here?"

"A few minutes ago!" Kira chirped back. "Right before Buzz kicked that alien's butt."

"Ah. And why is Kara trying to suffocate herself?"

"Because Sarah pushed her off the couch."

"I did _not_!" Sarah snapped, pulling a handful of cereal out of the box and stuffing it into her mouth.

"Sarah, you look like a chipmunk," Jason informed her. She scowled at him and pelted the cereal box at his head, regretting it a moment later because now she was cereal-less.

"So are you three always here?" Jareth asked, leaning against the wall.

"No. We've got school today so we've come to pick up Sarah. We carpool together."

"School?" Jareth blinked.

"College. We're in our fourth year."

"Oh? And what are you studying?"

"I'm an education major, mainly elementary school," Kira informed him. "Jason's an art major. Hasn't made up his mind."

"I have. I just didn't want to go change it yet."

"Oh? And what is it?"

"Dunno yet."

Kira rolled her eyes and motioned to the half dead Kara. "Kara is a bio major to be a doctor." Jareth raised an eyebrow and Kira shrugged. "Kara's weird." Despite being half suffocated, the girl managed to lift a hand with one finger raised, which was promptly ignored. "And Sarah is an English major." Sarah scowled at them both, having reclaimed her cereal box and stuffing her face.

Once Buzz Lightyear was finished, Kira informed him they really needed to get going or they'd be late. As Sarah slung her back over her shoulder and headed for the door, Kira looked back at Jareth who was lounging on the now unoccupied couch. "Hey! We're hanging out at my place after school. Do you want to come?"

"Kira!" Sarah hissed. She was ignored.

"Sure," Jareth called.

"When should we pick you up?"

"I'll be there. I can find my own transportation."

"Do you know where I live?"

"No. Just have Sarah call me and I'll be there."

"Kay!" She waved and headed out the door.

Sarah stood rigid for a moment, evening out her breath before sending him a glare, which was returned with a cheeky grin. She snarled and raced out of the house. Jareth smirked after her and crossed his arms beneath his head to sleep.

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"Aw come on Sarah," Kira called as they entered the twins' house. Jason skipped into the kitchen to help Kara start dinner while Sarah went to flop onto the couch angrily. Kira followed her with a sigh. "It wasn't like I was trying to offend you. Think of it from his perspective! He's suddenly been thrown into a different world and we're leaving for the entire day to go to school then hang out at another house while he has to stay by himself." Sarah frowned darkly and glared at the carpet, wishing it would suddenly burst into flames. "Please Sarah?"

She glanced up at her blond haired friend then sighed. "Fine… in a half an hour when dinner's almost done." Kira nodded and stepped away, heading up to her room. Sarah leaned back into the couch and pulled out her phone, checking her messages and answering a few calls.

When she glanced at the clock again, it read a half an hour later and she sighed heavily. "Jareth?"

He appeared in front of her with a raised eyebrow. "Didn't think you'd actually call…"

"Kira forced me to," she grumbled, getting to her feet and heading for the other room.

"Do you hate me so much?"

She paused and turned. "No. I just want you to leave."

"I cannot."

"Why not?"

"You know why. I need a wish."

"Why do I have to make a wish?"

"It's your job and it's mine to accept it."

"But I don't want to make a wish."

He shrugged. "No matter. You still must wish something. It's the rules."

"That's not happening anytime soon."

"Then I'll consider this a little vacation. Maybe I'll take a side trip to Hawaii. Of course you'll have to go to. Can't be too far from you."

"Oh! Is Jareth here?" Kira peered around and grinned, waving to him. "Hi Jareth! We've still got a few minutes left so just chill till then, kay?"

"Sure thing. Thank you for inviting me."

"No problem! Play nice Sarah."

Sarah growled at her and she disappeared. "Play nice indeed." She scowled at Jareth. "I'll play nice. Stick a fork in your forehead."

"I believe that would be called 'murder' dear Sarah my love."

"Stop calling me that!"

"Whatever you say love." Her eyes glimmered angrily but he just grinned and flopped onto the couch. "I can play this game all day Sarah."

"I don't want to play with you!"

"But you just said you would play nice to Kira."

"I had no intention of ever playing nice with you Goblin King."

"Aw. Formal titles. You must be mad, love."

"Why the hell won't you leave?!" Sarah snarled angrily.

"I feel we've covered this plenty. It's because you haven't made a wish yet," he replied coolly.

"That's because the last time I wished, _you_ showed up!"

His eyes flickered to hers and narrowed darkly. He stood before she realized he did and was in front of her in a heartbeat. "Better I then something entirely different," he whispered dangerously. "There are things Underground, Sarah, that would have no qualms about ripping your arms from their sockets and watching you 

slowly bleed out or cutting your skin away, layer by layer," he ran his finger lightly over her stomach, "and sucking out your insides." She tried to hide the shudder. "Luckily I am not nearly as dangerous as they, but still be warned, I will not tolerate rudeness when it is _you_ who called upon _me_."

She stared back, breathing quickly but otherwise nothing showing on her face.

"Everything… okay here?"

His jaw set angrily before he spun and replied cheerfully, "all okay! Sarah thought she had something in her eye and wanted me to help."

Jason glanced at Sarah who nodded once before he grinned. "Well Kara's all done making dinner! I must warn you both not to eat the soup though. I believe she poisoned it-yeow! Kara!"

The spoon that smacked his head skidded off into the dining room. "Shut up Jason!! You're the one that made the soup!"

He pouted as he headed into the other room. "Kara! I told you not to tell them!"

Jareth's eyes slid back over to Sarah who'd been watching after Jason. Realizing he was staring she looked at him quickly. "Are these… _things_ allowed into our world?"

"Only if you take too long to wish," he said sweetly, curling a strand of her hair around his finger. "So yes, there's a definite chance one may arrive." He smiled, finger tightening. "But don't worry. I'll protect you." Her eyes narrowed but before she could retort he was across the room and heading for the dining room. "This smells fantastic Kara. A job well done."

"Thank you Jareth," she replied cheerfully while Jason complained about doing half the work.

Sarah walked in and took a seat across from Jason, Kira on her right and Jareth on the end, Kara on Jason's right.

"So Jareth," Jason announced as he began putting food on his plate. "Today there was a teacher who was droning on and on so Kira draws her like a bee, buzzing about and sticks it under _my_ binder! The teacher saw it and I flipped, thinking I was going to get in trouble but she goes 'This is brilliant!!' Kira just about had a cow because I took all the credit."

Kira stuck her tongue out. "That's cause she likes you. If she'd seen it on _my_ binder she'd have hated it!"

"Too true. She does hate Kira. Don't know why… probably because you spilled that blue paint in her hair during the first semester." Jareth smirked. "Don't know how you did that either."

Kira blushed slightly. "I tripped and it flew through the air and landed on her head. She accused me of throwing it at her."

"You did throw it at her," Sarah announced, biting into a roll. "I was there. She'd just '_offended your chi_', remember?"

"Oh yeah…"

Kara sighed irritably. "Sister. Try not to anger _every_ teacher you come into contact with."

"That wasn't my fault!"

"What?" Jareth asked in confusion, stirring his soup.

"In fifth grade Kira somehow spilt soda all over our teacher's seat so when he sat down it looked like he peed his pants. She also killed the class goldfish."

"How was I supposed to know he didn't like cupcakes!"

Jareth snorted. "What did he do?"

"Sent me to the principal's office." She grinned wickedly. "I used my best 'but it wasn't my fault sir! Honest sir! I was only trying to share my cupcake with him sir!' voice plus a puppy dog face and crocodile tears and I was home free."

"For a month. Then we went to middle school and you annoyed _every_ teacher there," Kara added.

Kira 'hmphed!' and crossed her arms irritably. "It's not my fault they don't appreciate my speeches about butterflies and crocodiles."

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After dinner, they all sat to watch 'America's Funniest Home Videos.' Jareth chuckled at a few, amazed at how _human_ humans could be. The only side he ever saw was fear and greed. It made for a very unpleasant view of human beings and their disgusting tendencies. His eyes flickered to the four seated around the living room, all grinning widely at the screen. He felt his chest clench and he looked away quickly.

He'd been here too long…

"Sarah."

She looked over and lost her grin quickly. "What?"

"It's getting late and I must be getting back."

"Back where?" she asked, rolling her eyes. "You've got to stay here till I make a wish right?"

He scowled. "But I also need sleep just like you four."

"He is right Sarah," Jason said softly. "I'm getting really tired too."

"Fine." She picked up her bag. "Who's bringing me home?"

"I am." She raised an eyebrow at Jareth.

"You have a car?" Kara asked.

"No but I _am_ fae if anyone's forgotten." He stepped over to Sarah. "Say your good byes."

She rolled her eyes again. "Good bye everyone."

"What are you doing on Saturday?" Kira asked quickly when Jason and Kara said good bye.

"Nothing I don't think."

"Want to go to the boardwalk? Alan's going to be coming up this weekend and he wants to hang."

"Sure!"

"Alan?" Jareth asked.

"My boyfriend," Kira smiled sweetly. "I might be able to get the rest of the gang out as well."

"Well try," Sarah stated firmly. "We need to all hang out again."

"Are you so sure Sarah?" Kara asked with a smirk. "The last time we all hung out you got roped together with him." She nodded towards Jareth and Sarah's eyes widened. Before she could protest, they disappeared from the living room.

Jason and Kira turned to the strawberry blond grinning and chimed "very nice."

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**To all readers and reviewers, **

Jareth knows stuff about the aboveground when he shouldn't again… let's just pretend he knows it cause he's awesome and leave it at that…

Oh, and for the several people who were like 'this isn't very bloody or gory' HA! The gore! This may gross out many of you but it's 2.30 in the morning and my brain suddenly thought this up but… can you imagine having your guts sucked out like spaghetti? And for those of you going 'eeewwwwww!!' I am doing the same thing. (_shudders_) Ew. Let's get off this topic.

And I've just remembered I have more characters in this fic. XD Go me! So they will all be piled into the next chapter just for the fun of it.

So yes. If you can tell this chapter was just randomly shoved together. I do enjoy Kara's reaction to falling off the couch though. I've experienced it quite a few times. The carpet is too comfy to move from even though suffocation is setting it. I suppose that's where my brain cells went… hmm…

**Kadasa Mori**

P.S. The "Who the hell brought an alarm clock to the beach?!" was inspired by Bill Engvall's quote "who brought a cell phone to the mountains?!" Thank you Bill!

P.S.S. The show that's brought me many laughs is unfortunately not owned by me. Neither is Buzz Lightyear.


	5. The Truth

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Jareth, Sarah or the idea of the Labyrinth/Underground. Pretty much everything else is mine. Now if only I could make a profit off of this…

**Summary:** AU "And if you say his name three times, he jumps out and eats your heart!" Sarah Williams never really wanted to believe in the terror that is ghost stories. Unfortunately, her luck in trying not to believe just ran out. J/S

**Warning:** Characters may be extremely out of character. There will be much oc-ness. May contain very bloody scenes.

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**Three Times**

**By: Kadasa Mori**

**Part V – The Truth**

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Pulling on short denim shorts and a white no sleeve, Sarah swung her hair up into a messy bun and shoved sunglasses onto her head, hands reaching out to grab the bag on her bed. She hurried down the steps and set the bag on the ground by the door before heading into the kitchen where her friends sat waiting for her.

"Sorry I took so long," she said as she made her way to the fridge. She swung it open and pulled out a water bottle, slammed it shut and turned then shrieked as she found the Goblin King standing before her.

He grinned wickedly as Kira and Jason snorted in laughter, Kara lifting the paper to hide her smile. "Morning Sarah!"

She growled at him and pushed him back to walk around him and to the counter where she opened the water bottle and sipped at it. "Where are we meeting everyone else?"

"We'll meet up with Evie and Ryuu, Toroku and Samra at the boardwalk. Valdis and Haimon will meet up with us at two-ish. She's got some family thing going on and can't escape till then. Alan and Honou should be here any minute," Kira chirped happily.

"Here now!" All turned as a young man walked in and grinned as Kira shrieked and vaulted at him, arms going round his neck. He laughed and hugged her back, kissing her quickly. "It's good to see you too Kira." She laughed and hugged him tighter.

Honou pouted and turned to Jason and held out his arms. "Do I get a hug?"

Jason put a hand to his cheek and waved a hand. "Not in public Honou!"

The fiery haired young man laughed and turned to Sarah. "How about you then?"

She laughed and hugged him. "It's been awhile."

"It has." He sighed heavily. "Father believes in all work and no play." He smirked at her with a wink. "I believe a healthy dose of play is needed to keep working."

She nodded sagely. "Very smart indeed."

"So who's this young man?" he asked, motioning behind her. She bristled and turned to look at Jareth who was watching the proceedings in curiosity.

"He's not young!" Jason chirped happily. "He's really old. Like dinosaurs old. Like beginning of the world old. And he's a Goblin King from the Underground!"

The newcomers both shot Sarah a dark glare. "You gave him sugar?!"

"I did no such thing!" she snapped back. "I believe myself to be a bit smarter than that."

"I'm 30." All eyes turned to Jareth who leaned against the counter. He raised an eyebrow. "What?" He rolled his eyes. "Sorry. I'm 30 and 2/3 years old."

"How do you figure that?" Kara asked.

"Well, if I'm really 920 and I age ten of your years every 300 of ours, then I'd be 30 plus 2/3's."

Honou winced. "Don't play along with Jason's ideas. It always yields to horrible results."

"He's not playing," Kara sighed. "He really is that old."

"Even Kara is playing along?" Honou asked incredulously then shrugged. "All right. I'll suppose I'll play along then." He motioned to the doorway. "Now can we _go_?! There's a plate of hot dogs with my name on it!"

The group began moving to the door, picking up their things on the way. As Sarah turned to say good bye the Jareth, he brushed past her and out the door. "You're coming?" Sarah asked incredulously, not able to picture the Goblin King among the vast tourists and kids.

"Well yes. Until you've made your wish, I cannot leave your side." She sighed irritably and locked the door behind her.

"I call Alan's car!" Kira chirped, gluing herself to Alan's side.

He grinned and hugged her close. "Who else?"

Kara wrinkled her nose. "I call Jason's," she announced, climbing into the passenger seat of his jeep.

"Me too," Sarah and Honou chimed quickly.

Jason grinned and shot Alan a victory sign. "Ha! I win!"

Jareth glanced uneasily as the cars. "I believe I will meet you all there… just have Sarah call me when you've reached the beach." Jason nodded and the blond disappeared. He turned and slid into his car, Kara looking beyond him curiously. "Where's Jareth?"

"He said he'll meet us there," he answered, hearing Sarah and Honou in a deep discussion about tacos behind him. He glanced in the mirror and saw Alan pulling out and driving off before he backed out as well.

Kara raised an eyebrow. "Does he not like cars?"

Jason grinned wickedly. "If he doesn't, I can't wait to see what he thinks of the coasters."

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As they parked and yelled at Alan and Kira for making out, Jason turned and poked Sarah. She squeaked and turned to glare at him. "Call the Goblin King!"

Her eyes narrowed and she looked around, as if expecting him to come out of the car suddenly. "Where'd he go?"

"He didn't take the car. Call him."

Rolling her eyes, she poked his arm. "You'll be watching him then."

"Aye, aye captain!"

"Goblin King?"

He reappeared beside Jason. "Hm. Didn't think you'd call."

She just waved a hand, following Kara and Honou. "You're under Jason's watch today."

He sweat dropped and glancing at the grinning man. "I should be so lucky…"

"You should!" Jason chirped. "Come on-KIRA! ALAN! Let's go!"

As they walked towards the boardwalk, Jareth glanced around at their attire. He ducked back out of sight and tapped his shirt then pants. Black leather and leggings changed to denim jeans and a white tee shirt. His hands felt odd without gloves and he frowned softly then shrugged and hurried back out to catch up to them.

Jason glanced at him as he caught up then did a double take and grinned wickedly. Jareth immediately recognized this as 'I'm-About-To-Cause-Trouble' grin and elbowed him.

"What?" Jason whined.

"What are you doing?"

"I was just going to tell Sarah that I wanted some food," he replied innocently.

Jareth's eyes narrowed then he rolled them. "Do as you please."

"Sarah?" Jason called. "I'm hungry!"

"We're heading for food Jason." She turned and sent him a dull look. "Can you survive another five… minutes…" Jareth raised an eyebrow as she stared at him. After a moment she realized she was staring and looked straight ahead quickly. Both eyebrows rose then turned to Jason in confusion who punched the air with his fist.

"Boo yah!" he chirped just quiet enough only Jareth could hear. "Sarah thinks you're cute!"

Jareth rolled his eyes. "Indeed."

"Well you are quite cute," Kara informed him. Jason sent her a pout and Jareth smirked.

"Thank you Kara."

"No problem Jareth."

"_Kara_!" Jason cried. "What about me?!"

She sent him a blank look. "What about you?" Jason pouted and Jareth grinned wickedly. After a moment, Kara snorted, covering her mouth with a hand. "Yes Jason. You're adorable."

He grinned brilliantly but before he had a chance to spout how adorable he really was someone shouted "SARAH!" All turned as Evie suddenly vaulted at them, arms wrapping around the brunette who squealed as they tipped over and fell to the ground. "I missed you!" Evie cried.

Sarah laughed and hugged her back. "I missed you too! Now get off before I break something!"

Evie laughed but before she could move, Ryuu grabbed her around the waist and pulled her up. Still holding her with one hand, he reached out and helped Sarah up. Sarah nodded her thanks and brushed herself off, only to be tackled again, this time an unfamiliar girl grinning widely.

"Samra!" Sarah grinned and hugged her tightly. "It's been too long!"

"Far too long." She waved a hand towards a young man shaking hands with Honou as he walked up. "Toroku has been far too busy to allow me to visit."

He sent her a dry look. "Ignore her Sarah. She's just annoyed because I wouldn't let her eat before you all got here."

Sarah laughed. "Well we were headed to get food right now if you'd like to join us."

"Finally!" Samra cried, hooking her arm around Sarah's. "See Toroku. _This_ is nice people behavior; feeding your friends when they are hungry. Not feeding them is mean people behavior." He rolled his eyes and turned back to Honou. "So where's Valdis?"

"She'll be here in an hour. She had some family thing going on."

Following the rest of the group, Jareth tried to follow each conversation but soon got lost. Honou and Toroku were chatting about some guy they both knew, Alan and Kira talking to each other, Kara and Evie about some new book, Ryuu following beside the girls, Samra and Sarah about Valdis, and Jason and Jareth brought up the rear watching it all.

Lunch consisted of hot dogs, three large baskets of fries and a picnic table on the beach. Half of the table talking about one thing, the other about something else until something in common sparked both and the entire table was involved. Jareth watched it all quietly, most of the time not knowing what they were talking about. Since he'd met her, he'd seen annoyed Sarah, angry Sarah, fearful Sarah and smirking Sarah. Here though, she was in her element, laughing happily and having the time of her life. He looked at his food and picked at it, heart beating angrily in his chest at ever thinking he should come along with the group.

An hour later they met up with Valdis and Haimon, the girl immediately complaining that she needed sugar after a long and boring meeting with the family business. Ice cream was the consensus of the group and so they got in line to get it. Jareth stepped back and leaned against the railing of the boardwalk to wait. Jason was the first one to get ice cream so he leaned back beside Jareth to keep him company and held out a bowl of vanilla to the Goblin King who blinked then took it, nodding his thanks.

Jason glanced at the girls then back at Jareth before taking a bite out of his ice cream, mentally rephrasing his question so it seemed nicer but… well, anyway you looked at it, it was kinda horrible so he just went with, "so what are you really?"

Jareth blinked then turned to him, staring for a moment then frowning. "Fae."

"If you were fae, you wouldn't have to continuously have people call you through a mirror." Jareth's gaze darkened. "And the gift to compensate thing? Kinda weird…" He licked his ice cream before continuing. "Do you eat the person's heart after you give them a gift? Cause then there'd really be no point to wishing for anything but for you not to eat their heart which would be pointless."

Jareth turned back to watching the girls torment Alan mercilessly before sighing heavily. "You are not to tell Sarah this." Jason frowned but nodded. "I am fae. I was cursed by a witch but not to _eat_ hearts but instead, hurt mine. I was very arrogant when I was younger-"

"Still are."

Jareth shot him a look, Jason ignoring it in favor of licking his ice cream. "Much more than I am now. She cursed me to… basically I became somewhat of a genie, always granting other's desires but never gaining my own. Usually people tell me right away what they want. I grant it then get sucked back into the mirror." He paused, stirring the melting ice cream. "I'm pretty sure the hurting my heart is what happens when I meet people like Sarah. They don't know what to wish for or are nice to me and I get to stay Aboveground for a time, remember what it once was to be free before they find what they want and wish. Then I get sucked back in and have to live Underground until I'm wished for again."

"Is that why you keep reminding Sarah she has a wish?"

"Yes." He sighed heavily. "I don't want to stay Aboveground for so long I forget what it's like to be contained and hope I'll never be again. It's… troublesome…"

Jason sighed and rolled his ice cream cone in his hands. "Sarah's… she's very proud… too proud in fact. And stubborn." He rolled his eyes. "She'll take nothing that's offered to her. She'll work for her things and that's that. This wish thing? She won't take it because she doesn't want help. That's her fault. If the reason you were there was so she could help you, you two would be the best of friends. But because she knows you're only here to give her a wish… she'll detest everything you do and stand for because she thinks she'll be seen as weak."

Jareth watched him for a moment, then turned to examine the brunette who was scolding Valdis for treating her to a soda instead of letting her treat the other. "Hm…"

"So don't take it as a personal fault she's such an idiot," Jason chirped. "Cause she really is."

"Jason!" Kira latched onto the young man and tugged him towards the rides. "Let's go! You and Kara-"

"What?!" Kara yelped.

"-are getting the second car with Alan and I in the first and lastly Sarah and Jareth!"

Jason grinned widely. "Yay! Me n' Kara!"

Kara pouted as he wrapped his arms around her. "Kara and _I_, you idiot."

"Me n' Kara!!"

Kira grinned at them and turned, wrapping an arm around Alan's. "Let's go! See ya at the top Sarah!" Sarah glowered in her direction then scowled at Jareth who raised an eyebrow and glanced uneasily at the Ferris wheel. They parted ways with half the group to get in line, finishing their ice cream as they waited. Kira waved as they got into their cart and moved away. Jason and Kara were the next ones, Sarah and Jareth waiting as the attendant checked their door.

"Why isn't anyone else getting on?" Jareth muttered as they stood in line.

"Evie's scared of heights, Ryuu dislikes all rides, Honou wanted to finish his ice cream and Valdis and Haimon just don't like Ferris wheels."

"What about Toroku and Samra?"

"They've refused to ride any ride that Kira is on just because they last time they did it nearly broke down."

Jareth looked at her sharply. "Then why are we?"

"Next." They walked forward and got into the car, the door shutting and machine whirling to life.

"Sarah!" Jason called from the one in front of them. She waved and pulled out her camera. He tugged Kara into a hug and shot her a peace sign, the strawberry blond reluctantly doing the same. She snapped a shot, checked it and shot him a thumbs up. He grinned and took his seat.

Sarah turned back to Jareth who was staring out at the land around them. She blinked then held up the camera and took a quick shot. He glanced in her direction as she checked the picture. She smiled faintly then turned the camera off and put it away.

"What did you do?" he asked.

"Hm? Nothing." He raised an eyebrow but shrugged and looked back at the view. "I hope they don't stop us at the top," Sarah commented.

"Pardon?"

"Someone usually gets stuck at the top. I hope we don't. It's very breezy up there and this thing swings uneasily."

"Hm…" He glanced over the edge and sighed. "Unfortunately your wishes won't be granted today." She winced as it eased to a stop at the very top.

She groaned and pouted. "I could've spent longer eating my ice cream." He just nodded and leaned back into his seat. She put an elbow on her knee and cheek in her palm, staring at the ground of the cart. "May I ask you something?"

"Perhaps. It depends on what it is."

"Do you have any family?"

"No. My parents died long ago."

"Oh. I'm sorry…"

"It's no problem. I've gotten over it." He glanced over at her. "And yourself?"

She looked up and smiled. "My dad, step-mom and my little brother live a half an hour away. I moved into my mom's old house after I graduated. She left it to me after she died."

"How old is your brother?"

She frowned and leaned back, tapping her chin. "Let's see… I'm nineteen and he was born when I was fourteen… so five, going to be six next month." She rolled her eyes. "He's a handful of trouble I'll tell you." He chuckled. "So… what's the Underground like?"

"A lot like this one I suppose. Trees, rivers, mountains; the landscape is the same but I suppose you'd call it the feudal age if you spotted it. There are princesses and lords. There are monsters that in this world would be called fantasy but live and breathe as real as you or I."

"Are there any kelpies?" He raised an eyebrow and she smiled faintly. "I was always a fan of them."

"I suppose there are… I've never seen any though. Only Goblins and Fierys and a few fairies."

"Fairies?"

"Hm."

"SARAH!" She blinked and looked over her shoulder, down at Jason in the next cart. He wrapped his hands around his mouth, Kara trying in vain to keep him quiet. "DON'T WORRY! WE'LL SAVE YOU! A GIANT MONKEY WILL COME RESCUE YOU! JUST STAY PUT-Yeowch! Kara!"

Sarah groaned and held her head in her hands as Jareth snorted, looking back out over the landscape. The cart suddenly jolted a few minutes later and swung as they moved forward.

"Goblin King? What happens after I wish?"

"It's never certain, dependent on the wish I believe."

"Oh." She quieted as the cart neared the platform and slid out as the attendant opened the door. He followed her after the others, Kira and Alan all snuggly and cozy, Kara and Jason making fun of them.

Jason turned as he spotted the two stragglers and grinned widely. "Sarah! Toroku was right! Rides always break down when Kira's on them!"

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"

"We were stuck up there fifteen minutes! Didn't you notice?"

"Oh… not really." She scratched her head. "I think I fell asleep at one point."

Kara rolled her eyes. "Trust you not to freak out. Jason nearly made us fall out he was moving about so much." Jason pouted. "Kira and Alan were making out the entire time."

"Were not!" Kira shot back.

"Oh and Jason," Sarah smacked him upside the head. "That's for bellowing at me."

"Come on you guys," Honou offered lightly.

"We need to check out the rest of the boardwalk before dinner!" Evie chirped.

"And ride the coaster!" Kira added.

Kara twitched. "Not with you!" As her sister pouted and began arguing, Jason dragged Sarah and Jareth to the coaster.

"Let's go!" he chirped happily.

Jareth frowned, eyes watching the roller coaster whip by. "What is this monstrosity?"

"It's called _The Comet_," Jason supplied. "And it's fun."

Mismatched eyes narrowed as the next group began screaming. "It sounds as though it is murdering them…"

"Oh come you big wuss." He was dragged to the very back row, Sarah shoved in beside him, Jason taking a seat in front of them, Kara suddenly appearing. A very put out Kira was pouting and seated on the beach outside, Alan sitting beside her with an arm around her shoulders.

As Jareth was buckled into his seat, the bar descending on his legs and staying there, he glanced uneasily at Sarah who was grinning. "Ready Goblin King?" she asked wickedly as the ride crept forward and up the big hill. He didn't have time to answer as suddenly the ground was yards below him and the cart was shooting towards it.

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A few hours, a few dozen shops and many more heart pounding rides, Jareth found himself seated at a long table in a restaurant at the end of the pier. After ordering their drinks, he sat back and glanced at them all, feeling very uncomfortable in such a large group. Jareth and Sarah were seated on one end of the table. On Jareth's left were Jason, Honou, an empty chair, Ryuu and Evie. Across from him at the far end were Alan and Kira. On Sarah's right were Kara, Valdis, Haimon, Toroku and Samra.

"So how did you all meet?" Jareth asked suddenly after they received their drinks and silence fell over the table. They all glanced at each other, unsure as to who should start first.

"Sarah, Samra, Valdis, Haimon and I all knew each other from high school," Evie said as she sipped her drink. "Samra was a year ahead of us and I was in her chemistry class but I was best friends with Sarah who lived next door to Valdis who was under close guard from Haimon so we all kind of bundled together."

"And Jason and I lived down the street from Kira and Kara," Honou announced. "He and I committed all sorts of mayhem and Kira helped while dragging Kara along."

"And Toroku, Ryuu and I were the kids of best friends so we hung out all the time when we were younger," Alan commented, leaning back to put an arm around Kira's chair.

"This beach is really popular for people who live in an hour's radius so usually everyone lives here for the summer. One summer Sarah ran into Jason and they hit it off immediately and began causing trouble and made _me_ cover for them," Toroku rolled his eyes.

"And so we all decided to hang out and bring as many friends so we'd have a huge party!" Jason chirped.

Kira grinned. "And there I met Alan! Gorgeous beast he is."

"I am aren't I?" he grinned at her.

Kara rolled her eyes. "And Evie met Ryuu and fell in love with him." Evie turned pink and looked to her lap, Ryuu giving Kara a dull look and wrapping an arm around her. "And Toroku found Samra who he'd apparently fallen in love with a few summers ago but forgot to get her number."

"Since then, we've all kind of mushed together into one huge group. Sarah, Jason, Kara and I all go to the same college. Samra and Evie go to a smart people's college with Toroku and Alan. Valdis, Haimon and Honou are all taking over the family business so they've got private tutors and everything." Kira announced.

"I know Honou's business is very business-y but I personally think Valdis and Haimon are training to be assassins," Jason 'whispered' conspiratorially to Jareth. Valdis shot him a dirty look and Haimon rolled his eyes.

Jareth chuckled. "I highly doubt trained assassins could live with Sarah for so long and not kill her."

"Hey!" she protested as her friends laughed. She pouted. "Why did I let you come along again?"

"Because I have to protect you." She shot him a dark glare and he held his hands up. "Hey. Just doing my job."

"Protect you from what?" Valdis asked, eyes narrowed.

"Nasty creatures from the Underground," Jason chirped. "But enough of that, should I get the tacos or the nachos?"

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Later that night, eyes focused on the eleven o'clock news, Sarah mentally sighed. It had been a fun day but being around everyone at once usually fried her brain. She rubbed her temples and glanced at Jareth who was rubbing Merlin's stomach, the dog wagged, tongue lolling. She was surprised _he_ lasted all day… didn't complain about anything actually… she had to remember to thank him for that later.

As soon as the clock chimed midnight, it would mark an entire week of living with the Goblin King. Remarkably she'd survived since that Monday. Every morning he greeted her like he had that morning, scaring the life out of her while her friends laughed. They went to school and he did whatever he did while she was away. Once classes got out, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays were hanging out days. Tuesday and Thursday she went home and studied. She of course had been forced into calling him to Kira and Kara's house on Monday, Jason's on Wednesday and back to Kira/Kara's yesterday for dinner and watching television.

Tuesday and Thursday, he'd greeted her when she came home and she went straight upstairs and studied until dinner, which she cooked. They chatted lightly over dinner then separated again, him watching television or relaxing on the couch with a book and her studying.

It was almost… comforting in a way to know that someone else was in the house. She blinked at that thought and banished it. It would be even more comforting if that someone weren't a fae from another world that was ordered to give her a wish.

The clock in the living suddenly chimed, drawing both of their attentions. As the twelfth stroke echoed, she got to her feet. "And so starts the new week. Good night Goblin King."

He nodded his good night and watched her walk up the steps. Once she'd vanished a dark look crossed his face. _How long are you going to make me stay here Sarah?_ he wondered with a sad sigh. _A week already…_ He sighed again and lay back on the couch. _It's going to be _hell _going back…_

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**To all readers and reviewers, **

Oh my god. Summer is _flying_ by. School starts in two weeks and I haven't gotten nearly half as much done as I'd wanted to this summer! This fic should've been finished by now! Gwah!

So here is the next installment of the story. Jareth tells Jason the truth about the wishing business and Sarah of course causes him even more torment by leaving him along the Earthlings for even longer. Nice job Sarah. XD

**Kadasa Mori**


	6. The Dangers

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Jareth, Sarah or the idea of the Labyrinth/Underground. Pretty much everything else is mine. Now if only I could make a profit off of this…

**Summary:** AU "And if you say his name three times, he jumps out and eats your heart!" Sarah Williams never really wanted to believe in the terror that is ghost stories. Unfortunately, her luck in trying not to believe just ran out. J/S

**Warning:** Characters may be extremely out of character. There will be much oc-ness. May contain very bloody scenes.

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**Three Times**

**By: Kadasa Mori**

**Part VI – The Dangers**

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Sunday was another lazy day. Kira was spending the entire day with Alan. Valdis had been dragged back into work, Haimon unwillingly following her. Honou was out with Jason, causing mayhem to the civilized world while Toroku and Ryuu had met up with some friends from high school for a late lunch/early dinner party. Samra, Evie and Kara had gone out on a book lunch where they spent all day going to different book stores and having lunch.

Which left Sarah, sitting at home, bored to tears. Normally she'd have gone with Jason and Honou to cause mayhem, or hung out with Valdis had she been free, but seeing as Jason and Honou never got to hang out anymore, she didn't want to interrupt and Valdis of course wasn't free. Kira and Alan weren't an option and neither was the Book Lunch group. She'd tried that once… she shuddered. _Never. Again_. Sarah had 

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia and hanging out with those three made her tremble in terror throughout the day. With a heavy sigh, she twirled her long hair around a finger.

_What to do… what to do… so bored…_

As the cushion she sat on sunk lower, she turned to find Jareth lounging beside her. "Where is everybody?" he asked with a yawn.

She raised an eyebrow. "Did you _just_ wake up?"

"Hm…"

"They're all out… busy doing stuff…" She crossed her arms and sat back with a pout. "And I'm bored."

"What shall we do?" She looked at him sharply. "What?"

"We?"

"Yes. You and I. Me and you." He raised an eyebrow as she just stared. "What?"

"I didn't think you'd want to go anywhere with me," she muttered.

"And deny you the pleasure of my company? Never." She chuckled. "Where to my lady?"

"Hm… there's not much around here… there's the beach and boardwalk, a huge mall, some bowling lanes, rollerblading… there's a zoo."

"Zoo?"

"Where they keep animals and stuff."

"Oh."

"We could walk around my campus. Merlin would like that." Hearing his name, the dog came trotting it. She smiled. "Want to go for a walk Merlin?" He barked happily. "Sounds good. Coming Goblin King?"

He stood and ran a hand over his clothes. He kept the leather jacket, but his pants turned to jeans and his shirt to a black tee shirt. He glanced uneasily at her car. "Must we use it?" he muttered.

"Yes," she replied back, trying to hide the grin on her face. "It's not nearly as dangerous as a rollercoaster… even though thousands die every year while in one." He sent her a sharp look as she climbed into the driver's seat. After a moment he settled into the passenger seat then yelped as she reached across him and buckled him in. "Safety first!" she chimed happily.

He found out that 'safety' while Sarah was driving was a very faint hope.

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"And that poor raccoon! You nearly _killed_ him!"

"Pish posh yellow socks," Sarah said nonchalantly, watching Merlin bounce around happily. She turned and smirked. "If I didn't know any better Goblin King, I'd think you were afraid." His look would've melted steel but she merely laughed it off. "No worries Goblin King. I've been driving for years now. I'm pretty good when I'm not trying to scare you out of your wits." He snorted and crossed his arms. "If I treat you to lunch will you forgive me?"

He looked away for thirty seconds, making sure she was about to bristle and call him names before turning. "I suppose." She shot him a glare and held out Merlin's leash.

"I'll go get some money out and we can walk to the dining hall across campus. I'll be back in a little while." He smirked and nodded, watching the dog hop around and smell everything then fling itself gleefully to the grass and roll about, paws waving in the air. He allowed a faint smile to grace his face at how easily amused the dog was.

"Goblin King?" He turned quickly and found Sarah standing there, eyebrow raised. "I've been calling you for a few minutes."

"Hm." He handed her back the leash and continued through the campus, trying to keep Merlin from tackling people and chatting lightly about nothing.

"That's where my classes are," Sarah informed him, pointing to the rather tall but plain building. "Most of them are on the third floor unfortunately," she muttered irritably.

He chuckled and poked her side. "All the better to lose weight."

She pouted. "Are you saying I'm _fat_?"

"I'd never say such a thing."

"But you thought it?"

"… I cannot think lies…" She rolled her eyes and whapped his arm.

"Williams!" Both turned as a pretty blond walked up. She smiled brightly and oh so falsely. "Did you get the homework for last class? I'm afraid I forgot to write it down."

Sarah sighed heavily. "It was the last two chapters Carmichael."

"Thanks! You're a doll!" When she didn't move away, Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Well aren't you going to introduce me to... your brother is it?"

Sarah sent her an incredulous stare. "Do we look _anything_ alike?"

"A little… around the eyes I think."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Carmichael, Alex. Alex, Carmichael." Jareth dipped his head in greetings while Carmichael giggled and waved a hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Alex. Sarah's such a nice girl isn't she? Always reminds me of the homework." She flashed Sarah an adoring smile. "It's like having a sister looking out for me." Sarah bristled but before she could Jareth wrapped his arms around Sarah's waist.

"That's how we met actually," he chimed. "She was so sweet so I just had to ask her out. We've been in love ever since." He kissed her temple and Sarah blushed furiously. She would've turned and ripped his head off if Carmichael's choking hadn't distracted her.

The girl laughed nervously. "Ah… I see… well have a great day!" she shouted and hurried off.

Sarah just stared after her, jaw dropped before turning to Jareth who smirked wickedly. "Well… that was fun," he announced and stepped away.

"You're brilliant," Sarah informed him, taking a step forward to continue their walk. "Absolutely brilliant." She let out a happy sigh. "I'll never have to talk to her again."

"Why Alex?"

"Excuse me?"

"Why'd you call me Alex?"

"If I'd told her your name was Jareth then she'd have to ask where you from, what nationality you were, why your name was so odd. I didn't want to enjoy her company any longer so I stuck with Alex."

"That's very clever of you."

"I'm a clever person."

"Until you make wishes on mirrors."

"Until that occurs. I'm afraid all of my cleverness just vanishes when I wish on a mirror." She sighed. "Such a sad fact of reality it is."

He chuckled and swung an arm around her shoulders. "So… what's for lunch?"

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As the eleven o'clock news chimed its goodbye, Sarah stood and stretched. "I'm going to bed."

"Do you need company?" Jareth asked innocently. A scowl was shot in his direction.

"No."

"Are you sure? I do need to protect you from the boogyman."

She rolled her eyes. "Good _night_ Goblin King." Stepping into her room, she quickly changed into a no sleeve and boxers, stretched widely then curled up in bed, turning her light off as she did. She was sinking into the mattress, the entire world fading away as sleep began creeping in…

"Mmmm… human flesh is delicious…"

She sighed heavily. "Go _away_ Goblin King."

There was a moment's pause and she cheered mentally that he'd left when a dark chuckle echoed in the room. "I am _not_ the Goblin King." She froze, then slowly opened her eyes.

What looked like a human sized Chinese dragon stood in front of her, teeth sharp and blood stained, long claws also tinted red. His eyes glimmered as a wicked grin spread across his bright red face showing all of his teeth. "You should probably scream now," he ordered. "I like my prey still living when I feast on their arteries."

She inhaled sharply and screamed, vaulting away from the monster, falling off the bed as she did. She was up and off the ground as soon as she untangled her legs. She reached for the door but stopped as clawed hands grabbed her upper arms and dragged her away. She screamed again, trying to pry its hands off of her but it merely grabbed her left shoulder, pulling her shirt to the side and tilted her head to the side, head dipping to bite into her skin.

As she felt hot breath on her neck she inhaled again and screamed, "JARETH!!"

"Sarah!" Her eyes flashed opened and she sat up quickly, vaulting back against the headboard. Her breathing was erratic, eyes wide as she saw Jareth kneeling on the bed beside her looking concerned. She looked around the brightly lit room but didn't spot a dragon-thing trying to eat her. Slowly her breathing died down to normal, eyes shut and hands fisted on her thighs, trying to calm down.

When his gloved hand covered her own, her eyes snapped open, only now feeling herself shaking horribly. She lifted her eyes to his. "What's wrong?"

"Nightmare." she stated shortly, tugging her hands from his. "Everything's fine. Go back to sleep."

"What was it about?"

"Nothing. Go away."

"Sarah…"

"Fine. It was some kind of Chinese dragon human thing trying to eat me. There? Happy?"

He was silent for a minute. "Did he have gold eyes?"

"Yes. Go."

"Was there a scar over his left cheek?"

She frowned but nodded. "Yes." He bristled and stood. "Goblin King? What's going on?"

"Nothing. Get some sleep."

"Nothing?!" She leapt to her feet, following him to the door. "I just told you my dream! You knew what was in it without my telling! Now tell me what 'nothing' really is?!"

He spun around, eyes glimmering dangerous and her heart leapt a beat as the lights dimmed, his magic crackling around her. "I don't tell you to keep you safe. The more you know of this creature the more he will try to come after you. I am going to tell him that his prey is under my protection. Go back to bed."

She growled dangerously. "No. Not until you explain a few things."

"Did you not hear what I just said? The more you know, the more danger you'll be in."

"And you just said I'm under your protection! I'll be fine!"

"Sarah-"

"Don't you Sarah me!"

"Sarah!" he snapped angrily and she jumped. "When I say no I mean it!"

"Well why can't _my_ no's mean anything?! You always keep questioning and never explain ANYTHING! Why don't you answer me? I answer you! I don't know about this underground thing! As far as I know, you're an insane creature trying to mess with my mind instead of help me! Who knows if the underground exists anyway?! Should we believe you just because you say it does?!" She turned back to him and swallowed the rest of her rant as he stared back at her.

She never _did_ know when to shut her mouth…

"I told you I didn't tolerate rudeness Sarah." His voice was a whisper but to her it echoed through the silent room like he'd screamed it. "And I mean it. When I say no, you can't be told because it's dangerous, I mean if I tell you he will come back and this time, he won't be a nightmare. He will be real." He ran a gloved finger up her arm and she shivered. "He will start with your arms so you can't fight back, rip the skin off and lap up the blood. Next will be your legs, followed by your cheeks and nose. Your eyes you'll keep so you can watch yourself slowly bleed to death while he feasts on your innards. Right before you draw your last breath, he'll lean in close so you can see your blood dripping from his fangs. He'll rest his hand on your chest then dig in and pull your heart out so as you die you can watch it contract for the last time."

She swallowed roughly, trying to draw air back into her lungs. "Why?" she whispered.

"Why?" He let out a bark of laughter, eyes dark and dangerous. "Because he can, Sarah. Because he knows that you've been in contact with the underground. Because he knows you know he's _real_."

"Thank you for increasing her awareness Goblin King." Her eyes widened and she turned slowly, the creature standing behind them. He clapped twice. "Thank you dearly." He looked her up and down. "Yes… this'll be fun."

"Thank you for staying close so I wouldn't have to go as far to find you." The dragon raised an eyebrow. "This girl has called upon me." Gold eyes snapped to Jareth as the Goblin King reached out, grabbing Sarah's waist and pulling her back into his chest. She clutched at his arm like a lifeline. "And you know what that means."

An ugly sneer covered the creature's face. "The ancient laws hold no meaning to my race."

"They hold power over every race of the underground, no matter if they believe it or not."

"Ha!" The creature stepped forward, eyes landing hungrily on Sarah. Her breath caught and she leaned back into Jareth, shivering violently. He was close enough Sarah could smell decaying flesh on his breath and feel the heat from the hand reached for her arm.

Jareth wasn't moving, his arms wrapped loosely around her waist. She was mentally screaming '_traitor! I knew not to trust him_!' but she couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't save herself from the death that was awaiting.

The creature's hand wrapped around her arm and she screamed as nails pierced the flesh, her hand shooting out to push against his chest. He began screaming, leaping back as his hand and the spot on his chest she'd touched burst into flames. She shrieked, waving her hand and looking at it. The skin was bright red and in pain but there was no fire or blisters. He waved it about until it went out then snarled, eyes wide and blood red in anger. "WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"I _told_ you already. She's under my protection and the ancient laws hold to _every_ race."

He growled dangerously then glared at Sarah. "Once you've wished… once you've wished and he's out of the picture, you. Are. Mine." She shivered and stepped back into Jareth as he vanished.

"Sarah? Are you alright?"

"I… think so…" She turned to face him. "What happened?"

He shrugged lightly. "He must have been waiting for you." He grabbed her hand and held it up, examining it in the light. "Hm…."

"Goblin King? If I do wish… can he return to hurt me?"

"I don't think so. Once you've wished you forget about the underground and would therefore forget about him. He couldn't do anything about it." He dropped her hand. "It looks fine. You only need to do one thing for it to feel better."

Her head was pounding again. "Oh? And what's that?"

He held out a hand, pointer finger at her forehead. "You need to… wake… up…" With that he pushed his finger against her forehead and her eyes rolled back into her skull.

"Sarah! Damn it! Wake up already!" Her eyes flashed open and she rolled off her hand to turn, Kira beside her bed. "You're going to be late for class! Let's go! Let's go!"

She looked at the clock and blinked then hurried out of bed and raced to the shower, taking the fastest shower known to man before brushing, drying and pulling her hair into a ponytail, clothing herself and grabbing her things, racing downstairs to grab the egg sandwich Kara held out.

"Bye Goblin King!" Jason called as they all raced for the door.

Sarah paused at the doorway and turned, looking back to examine him. He was sitting on the couch reading a magazine and glanced up, realizing she was staring at him. He raised an eyebrow as though saying '… yes?' She blinked then shook her head and slammed the door, racing to the car.

For the rest of the day her thoughts were consumed with red eyed dragons and ferocious Goblin Kings that knocked her unconscious and seemingly forgot about the night before.

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**To all readers and reviewers, **

So yeah. School's been started and this fic still isn't finished. Oh well… I can only pray it'll be finished before Christmas… XDD Which should be likely as there's probably only a few chapters left.

Oh! Anyone know what "Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia" means? You get cookies if you do!

And wow… that dragon part was really fun to write… something must be wrong with me O.O;

**Kadasa Mori**


	7. The Wish

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Jareth, Sarah or the idea of the Labyrinth/Underground. Pretty much everything else is mine. Now if only I could make a profit off of this…

**Summary:** AU "And if you say his name three times, he jumps out and eats your heart!" Sarah Williams never really wanted to believe in the terror that is ghost stories. Unfortunately, her luck in trying not to believe just ran out. J/S

**Warning:** Characters may be extremely out of character. There will be much oc-ness. May contain very bloody scenes.

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**Three Times**

**By: Kadasa Mori**

**Part VII – The Wish**

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She gnawed on her bottom lip, eyes on the paper before her, but unfocused as her thoughts ran rampant. A red eyed dragon was snarling in her mind while her blond haired savior sat across from her, yawning as he watched the news. She hadn't said anything yesterday about Sunday night's scare but… neither had he… Her eyes narrowed. _Did it really happen or was it just a nightmare? Why is it anything that happens around him also seems like something my mind just made up?_

"Hard question?"

She jumped nearly a foot off the couch and looked up so fast she nearly got whiplash. "What?!"

An eyebrow slowly rose. "Is it a hard question?" he asked slowly.

"Oh yes. Terribly hard," she replied vaguely, looking back to her crossword she hadn't begun to fill in.

"Are you alright Sarah?"

"Fine, fine."

"Are you sure?"

She sighed as he sat beside her. "I _said_ I was fine Goblin King. Why do you always push the issue?"

"Because usually it's an issue that needs to be pushed."

She turned to growl at him. "Oh? Like the dragon? Did that issue need to be pushed?"

He looked away. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Letting out a shriek of fury she threw her paper down and stomped into the other room. When his boots tapped the wood floor behind her, she spun with a glare. "Why can't you tell me anything?! This is _my_ life you're invading!

Jareth rolled his eyes. "You're an idiot. Just wish and I won't invade it anymore."

She scowled and crossed her arms. "Why are you being such a jerk?! You weren't this horrid while my friends were here."

"That's because they would've kept you away from me at all times."

"I _WANT_ you away from me!"

He smirked. "All right."

She blinked, mouth still open to yell. It shut with a snap, lips turning into a frown. "All right?"

"Sure. See ya." He took a step back and disappeared.

Sarah's eyes widened and she spun in a circle. When she didn't spot him she looked all around the house. After a thorough investigation she found he was nowhere in her home. Grinning she squeaked out a "yes!"

She had no '_dreams'_ that night.

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Stretching as she entered the house, Sarah called out to Merlin and announced she was home. When no Goblin King replied back, she smirked victoriously and headed for the kitchen, the dog trotting after her. She heard Kira still arguing with Jason about how to say 'anemone', Kara informing them both they were idiots and following Sarah. It was Thursday but because they couldn't get together yesterday (Kara and Kira's next door neighbor was having a birthday party for her daughter) they were getting together today. Sarah turned as Kara entered the kitchen, the strawberry blond looking around curiously.

"Did he ever come back?" Kara asked.

Sarah shook her head, returning to raiding the cabinets for snack food. "Nope! Thank the goddess."

"Did you ever stop to think that it might be a _bad_ thing he never came back?"

Sarah paused then turned to her with a frown. "What do you mean?"

"Well… he obviously came here for a reason but because you told him to go away, he left and couldn't complete the reason he'd come here in the first place so… something's been left undone."

"But… well…" Sarah sighed heavily. "Thanks for crushing that miniscule speck of hope that he'd just left because it was boring here."

Kara grinned wickedly and took the bag of chips Sarah had found, heading for the living room. "That's my job Sarah, crushing people's hopes and dreams."

"Speaking of dreams," Jason announced, Kara squeaking in surprise as he suddenly appeared in front of her. "I had a weird dream last night."

"What was it about?" Kira asked, raiding Sarah's fridge for drinks as Kara hit him with the chips.

"Well, there was this dragon thing, right?" Sarah stiffened. "And it was like 'oh ye who sleeps so soundly! I will eat you with ketchup! And I was like 'oh please don't eat me Mr. Dragon' so he's like 'Find the Dragon Ballz and I won't eat you' and Goku and I flew clouds around the Earth looking for them." Sarah let out a relieved sigh as Kira laughed and Kara rolled her eyes.

"No more Dragon Ball Z cartoons for you anymore Jason."

"Well at least I got to fly a cloud Kara. What was _your_ dream about?"

She crunched a chip. "I don't dream."

"Aw," he poked her side. "I bet you do! I bet you dream about me!"

She snorted. "In your dreams."

"No Kara. My dreams are about Dragon Ball Z."

As they headed for the living room, arguing, Kira stepped beside Sarah. "You okay?"

Sarah shook herself. "Fine. Why?"

"You looked weirded out for a minute."

She smiled faintly. "I'm fine. Just tired."

Grabbing her wrists, she dragged her towards the living room. "Then come and relax!"

"Kira, there's no such thing as relaxing with Jason around." They both ignored his protests.

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As the clock chimed eight and their movie ended, Sarah's friends stood and began gathering their things to leave. Kira suddenly gasped and spun to Sarah. "Oh hey! Toroku's holding a cocktail party for his 'higher ups' and wants to know if we'd come along so afterwards we can have a real party. You in?"

"Sure!" Sarah grinned. "Where's it being held?"

"Crescent Palace. They were so honored by Toroku's reservation there they've given him an extra hour in the backroom for free."

"Is that why we've been invited?"

"I suppose so." Kira smirked. "Otherwise I don't think he'd have invited us along. I mean, would you willingly invite Jason to a party with your bosses?" Sarah snorted as Jason let out a wail that she was the meanest friend on the face of the Earth. Kara promptly informed him that it may have been mean but it was true. Kira rolled her eyes as he let out a shout about having no friends and stomped out of the house.

Kara smirked at her twin and followed after him to the car. "I'll see you tomorrow then Sarah," Kira said to the brunette, heaving her bag onto her shoulder and following them out of the house, the door shutting behind her.

After her friends left, Sarah sat there for a minute and looked around. She'd gotten used to the Goblin King's presence over the past week and a half. Now that it wasn't there… She shook her head and got to her feet. No matter. She'd continue as she always did. It was Thursday and she had to study.

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As Friday evening fell, Sarah stood in front of her mirror, frowning and turning back and forth. Her dress was a simple black cocktail dress with thin straps. The right side of the gown came to her knees while the left draped a foot longer to brush against her ankle. Kira had forced her to wear black stiletto heels, about three and a half inches tall. She scowled at the shoes on her feet then sighed and ran a hand through her hair, wondering what to do with it. She finally decided to just pull it up into a messy bun and wear big silver hoops to contrast against her bare neck.

Finished with her dressing up, she carefully headed downstairs, scolding herself for being too lazy to take the shoes off to go downstairs. Kira sat on the couch already dressed in what she thought was a socially acceptable outfit.

Sarah had grudgingly admitted it was a nice dress when they were in the store and Kira immediately bought it, brought it home and made some adjustments. When she came back and showed Sarah, the brunette just raised an eyebrow and asked what kind of dog mauled it. Kira scolded her saying 'it's not the outside that counts Sarah, it's what's inside.'

She calmly took the dress from her… and beat her upside the head with it. Kira was ordered to take the neon green, yellow and orange scarves off of the gown before she got it back. At least the scarves were gone, but the brightness still remained. With her dress alone, Kira completed half the rainbow. Add in her sister and they nearly completed it.

If Kira's dress represented chaos, Kara's was calmness. A simple on shoulder strap long gown that flare off slight at the knees, dark blue with a thin strip of gold from right hip to left thigh. Sarah rolled her eyes as she came down the stairs, listening to their arguing from the living room. Kira was irritated Kara wouldn't just admit she liked her dress and Kara was angry Kira wouldn't accept her dress wasn't socially acceptable. After taking a seat on the couch and waiting a good twenty minutes, Sarah finally interrupted with a "can we go now?"

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The party was… well… the get together was… oh fine. The stand-around-and-talk-to-monotone-people-while-trying-not-to-wince-as-a-color-blinding-Kira-walked-about was NOT fun. After smiling prettily and listening with half of her brain focused on the man and the other half on not tossing a drink in his face for some entertainment for nearly three hours, Sarah was ready to shoot someone.

Kara had walked by a minute ago and spotted her. As she was walking towards her, she spotted Jason. Her face paled and she literally disappeared. Sarah turned and found him in a death grip, the drink he'd been about to take still on the table as she dragged him from the room. Half of Sarah was glad; a drunk Jason would've provided plenty of amusement but Toroku may have killed him. The other half was angry because it meant listening to this man talk for even longer.

"Oh look. There's Mr. Sierna. I apologize Ms. Williams. I need to speak with him about our recent reports." And with that, Sarah was granted a brief moment of freedom as she darted for the back room. She peeked in and found Kira already in there. The blinding girl turned and grinned.

"Wondered how long you'd make it."

"Shut up. Where's everyone?"

"Toroku's getting the removal process started. He said to chill in here till he was done. Kara took Jason outside to get some fresh air. Honou got here, realized I was the only one in here and turned around. I've not seen anyone else."

"Fresh air sounds nice," Sarah murmured. Kira pointed to another door and picked her book back up.

Outside was nice. There was a huge garden in the back, a pond that Jason was trying to convince Kara to jump into. Sarah rolled her eyes. Had he asked her two hours ago, she would've gladly jumped in with him to avoid the bleeding eardrums she now had. Turning away from the two, she headed deeper into the garden, enjoy the peace and quiet and NOT monotone voice.

A rustle to her left was ignored at first, but the soft tremor that ran up the dirt, through her shoes and to her feet made her pause. She stared at the dirt beneath her feet, then turned towards the rustle and immediately regretted it, spotting a… well, for lack of a better word, monster. It was a minotaur with claws on its webbed hands, thick shaggy brown hair dripping red.

Sarah's eyes widened. "Oh… my… god…" As though those were key words, the monster turned. Its eyes narrowed and it let out a shriek, racing for her. She turned on her heel and screamed, running as fast as she could. Of course, she tripped, mentally cursing herself for wearing her 'non-run-able' shoes.

As it raised its claws to rips her to shreds she threw her arms over her head and screamed. "JARETH!" To hell with dignity or dying with pride. He was probably millions of miles away in the underground but… maybe… just maybe he hadn't really left her alone…

When she didn't die a horrible, bloody and painful death, she peered open her eyes. There were leather boots in front of her, and she looked up as Jareth sat on his heels with a smirk. "You called?"

"Jareth…" She sat up and looked behind her but found no monster. "Where…"

"I sent it back to the underground. It seems it was after another but you got between them." He gave a half shrug. "Luckily I heard you call just in time."

She blushed. "Lucky that," she muttered and moved to stand but winced as her ankle screamed its annoyance at moving.

"Alright then?"

"Fine," she mumbled.

"You know," she jumped as he knelt beside her and grabbed her leg. "I'm really beginning to hate that word." She flushed and tried to pull her leg back but his grip didn't loosen. He tapped her ankle and she inhaled sharply at the sudden but short lived pain as a thick wrapping was put around it to keep it in place.

"Thanks," she said, still staring at the ground and not him.

"Do you need help standing?"

"I'll be… okay."

He snorted but allowed her to get to her feet. When she took a step and her ankle gave out, he grabbed her quickly and helped her limp to the front of the building where he spotted Honou.

"Honou." The man turned then hurried over. "Sarah hurt herself. I'll take her home."

"You okay Sarah?"

"Fi… I'm okay." She laughed weakly. "I just tripped."

Honou snorted. "Nice."

She rolled her eyes. "Thanks you jerk."

Grinning wickedly, he took a step towards the doors. "I'll go let Jason know. You should escape while you can." She nodded and directed Jareth for the cars. As soon as they were out of sight, he swung her up into his arms and disappeared, reappearing in her living room.

"You don't have to carry me," Sarah mumbled, face alit and staring at her knees as he walked to her kitchen.

He shrugged. "It's all right. I'd rather you not hurt yourself completely." He set her on the counter and looked around the kitchen. "Where's your first aid kit?"

"In the bathroom."

He disappeared, reappearing a moment later. As he carefully cleaned the wound, she stared out the window at the moon reflecting the pond far below it. "How'd you know I called?"

He let out a bark of laughter. "Did you really think I'd gone so far I couldn't hear you?" She lowered her gaze to look at him. "I was nearby. I told you I'd protect you."

"You told that dragon thing that the laws protected me."

His gaze darkened. "_I_ protect you. The laws may punish those that disobey but _I_ protect you."

She smiled faintly. "Thanks…"

"Hm…" He gently put a bandage on the scrape then stood back, hands on his hips, examining her leg. "Not too shabby, I think, for a first time first aid."

"Hm…" She lifted her leg to examine it and winced, feeling the skin pull angrily. "It looks fine." She motioned towards the cabinet. "Will you get me the Tylenol and a glass of water?" They were quickly fetched. As soon as she downed both, he picked her up once again and reappeared in her room. When she sat down on her bed but he didn't move, she raised an eyebrow. "I have to get changed."

He looked at her innocently. "I don't mind."

"Out." He smirked at the dark glare he was receiving and stepped outside, shutting the door and leaning against it. THUD! "Damn it!"

He grinned widely. "Need any help in there?"

"No!" THUD! "Damn it!!" There was a moment's silence before, "… come in." He entered, Sarah in a pair of bright yellow smiley face boxers and a white tee shirt. He raised an eyebrow and she scowled. "Not a word."

His eyes traveled down to her ankle and a frown grew on his face, seeing it red and swollen. "Hm…" he knelt in front of her. "Stand on your left leg." She did so, holding his shoulders. She did so and winced, fingers tightening in the jacket. "All right, back to your right."

"I… I would like you to grant me my wish now." She felt his shoulders stiffen dangerously under her hands. He looked up at her sharply then his eyes dulled and he stood, bowing lightly.

"What would you command of me, my lady? Anything you wish I shall grant."

For a moment she didn't wish. For a moment she couldn't, seeing the defeated posture, the knowledge that he'd soon be stuck back into a world of monsters. For a moment she couldn't breathe, wondering how many times he had to bow before idiot mortals who'd allowed him so long from his cage then asked whatever their selfish hearts desired and knowingly threw him back behind bars.

She then realized how much she'd hurt him, keeping him from granting a wish for so long.

_I'm such an idiot_, she moaned in her mind, watching as he didn't move from his servant-like position. _I'm sorry it took so long Jareth._

"Stay here." He didn't move. "Stay here and be my bodyguard."

He looked up then slowly straightened. "What if I were to be more?"

"I don't date outside my species."

"Have you ever tried?"

"Well… no."

"Then how do you know it wouldn't work?"

"It's just a general principle I believe in… but I could perhaps give it a shot."

He swung his wrist, a crystal appearing. "Then what is your wish, my lady?" he asked, holding the crystal up.

She lowered her head, lips brushing against the crystal. "I wish you would stay with me."

As the crystal burst, he smiled softly. "Wish granted."

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**To all readers and reviewers, **

Awwwww! The sappiness! It's so cute!

Whew! One chapter left! Just an epilogue and this baby is finished! Oh! And I doodled a picture of the girls in their gowns for this chapter and put it up on my dA account since my descriptions are horrible.

So this chapter, besides being pushed back for school work, has been written, rewritten, rewritten again and finally given up on and spell checked. Hopefully you all think it's good as it is!

Gotta get to class!

**Kadasa Mori**


	8. The Not So Happily Ever After

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Jareth, Sarah or the idea of the Labyrinth/Underground. Pretty much everything else is mine. Now if only I could make a profit off of this…

**Summary:** AU "And if you say his name three times, he jumps out and eats your heart!" Sarah Williams never really wanted to believe in the terror that is ghost stories. Unfortunately, her luck in trying not to believe just ran out. J/S

**Warning:** Characters may be extremely out of character. There will be much oc-ness. May contain very bloody scenes.

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**Three Times**

**By: Kadasa Mori**

**Part VIII – The Not-So-Happily Ever After**

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Lounging on the couch in the living room and looking very out of place was a wild blond haired, mismatched eyed Goblin King. He yawned, booted feet up on the back of the couch, arms folded under his head. His ears were tuned to the clock, counting each second as they passed and waiting for her to get home. He smiled faintly as he thought of her. She was meeting with her editor right now about the next book in line. She'd done quite well in the past few years, writing a series about devils and demons. Merlin's head suddenly shot up off the ground. For a moment he just sat there staring at the door before getting to his feet and trotting to the door.

As the car pulled into the driveway, his feet swung off the couch and he sat straight, magazine quickly in his hands. The door opened and she stepped inside. Merlin was the first to receive her attention, a pat on the head and scratch behind the ears before she dropped her keys in the basket and slipped out of her shoes.

"Afternoon Merlin," she cooed. "Were you a good boy for me?" He wuffed and licked her cheek. She smiled and kissed the top of his head before stepping into the living room. "Afternoon Goblin King."

"Afternoon," he replied and gave her a kiss. "How was work?"

She grunted in reply and tossed her bag on the floor and headed for the kitchen. "Jason's art gallery opening is this weekend," Sarah informed him as she flipped through the mail.

"Oh?"

"He wants us both to come."

He made a face. "Hn."

She smirked and walked over, wrapping her arms around his neck as she leaned over the couch. "I know, I know. You _hate_ art."

"If you know this then why are you making me go?"

"Because I will not go alone." She stood straight and headed back towards the kitchen. "Besides, you're my _bodyguard_ remember?"

He scowled. "Stupid wish." That was her excuse for everything. 'I need to go to the store. Come along _bodyguard_.' 'Kira's bridal shower is this weekend and you're going _bodyguard_.' 'Jason wants to celebrate finally getting Kara to go somewhere with him willingly so let's get going _bodyguard_.'

She just smirked and continued into the other room. "What do you want for dinner?"

"Is everyone coming over?"

She rolled her eyes. "Do you _ever_ listen? Jason's art-"

"Art gallery is opening this weekend and he wants us both to come. What does that have to do with everyone coming over?"

"We're all getting together then, not tonight."

"Ah… then whatever's fine."

She scowled at the back of his head before looking back into the cupboard. "I don't feel like making food."

"So order out."

"Says he who brings no money home."

He looked at her upside down. "Says she who made a fortune off her last book." She stuck her tongue out and grabbed the phone to order pizza.

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As Saturday night rolled around, Sarah found herself in a pretty evening dress, seated at a table at Jason's art gallery opening watching Jareth interact with everyone else.

It had been six years since she called the fae into her life. She smiled as she watched him chat with Jason and Alan, or rather, listen to Jason talk non-stop at him. Alan had done well for himself, making more than enough money to support Kira and the large family Kira wanted in a few years after she'd taught for awhile. Jason had this gallery opening and was doing fantastically well, his art flying off the shelves.

Kara made her way over and he shut up instantly to grin brightly at her and wrap an arm around her waist. She didn't brush him away but she obviously sent him a 'remove arm please' look which was promptly ignored.

Kara was becoming a popular doctor in the ER. She tolerated no mistakes and no laziness. Everything was to be cleaned and ready at all times, all ties tied and knots knotted. Many lives had been saved with her on the floor. The strawberry blond turned to ask Jareth something to which the blond fae nodded and replied, Alan and Jason laughing.

Sarah frowned. That could only mean she was the subject. Damn fae. As though knowing what she was thinking, he glanced in her direction and winked. She rolled her eyes and turned to look at the other group.

Toroku had his arms around Samra's waist, head on her chin. Toroku was also doing very well in his business as a… something with legal matters. Samra had graduated to become a layer and only lost two out of thirty cases so far.

Evie and Ryuu stood next to them chatting. Evie had started out in the law profession but quickly lost interest in that, turning to a librarian status. Many made fun of her for it but they weren't the ones taking care of the state books and getting access to restricted reading material on a day-to-day basis. Her job also helped Samra for she could easily find books Samra might need to win her cases.

Ryuu… well no one really knew what he did but perhaps Evie and she wasn't telling. He made enough to support everyone though so it wasn't question. Jason often joked that he must be the prime minister of something to make that much money. Ryuu just smiled like 'I know something you don't' but didn't elaborate.

Valdis, Haimon and Honou sat in another corner, Honou and Haimon talking about something, Valdis looking completely bored with it. Valdis had gotten sick of her tutors and joined Sarah in college in Sarah's third year. She thrived there in law and became a cop. Haimon, because he had nothing else in mind, also became a cop and they were partners in the law force with a much better arrest record than the other members of the unit. Azrael(Valdis' brother) joked that it was because she was so much more violent and often instigated the criminal into trying to hit her so she could take them out. Haimon would just sigh and get them into the car before she could kill them.

Honou was the head of his family business and often very, very busy with no free time. But whatever he did, he did it well. He'd tried to explain it to Sarah once before finally just giving in and saying, "it's like being the president of Microsoft." She just nodded and put that down as very rich, very busy.

"My lady." She turned as Jareth walked up. "Would you like to head home? Everyone else is." She nodded and held out her hand. He grabbed it and pulled her to her feet, leading her over to say their good nights.

As Kira's arms wrapped around her, the blond whispered, "see ya next weekend?"

Sarah pulled away and nodded in confusion. "Sure. Party?"

She grinned widely. "Announcement."

"What _kind_ of announcement?" Kira put a finger to her lips then a hand on her stomach. Sarah was confused then her eyes widened and she inhaled sharply. "For real?!" she hissed quietly. Kira nodded happily and put her finger to her lips again before turning to say her good byes to Samra.

As they reached the parking lot and began walking down the street, Jareth raised an eyebrow and asked what she was so happy about. Sarah just grinned widely and replied with, "it's a girl thing."

"Ah. Shall we?" he asked, holding an arm out. She wrapped her arm around his and they disappeared.

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"And she says 'your breath smells!' and refused to go on a date with me! I mean come on! I eat _flesh and blood_! It's not possible to have good smelling breath when you get raw human flesh!"

"I hear yah," Sarah replied back with a sigh, fingers typing out her story on the computer. "I had a guy do that to me in college after I'd had a garlic parmesan chicken sandwich. Boy, he regretted that."

The dragon glanced up from the controller he held. "Why? What'd you do to him?"

"Kicked him so hard he probably lost the right to procreate."

Wincing, the dragon returned to his game. "Sarah, you've no right to do that to a male unless he's truly committed some heinous crime."

"Like trying to eat the flesh off my face?"

"Well… I didn't actually get around to trying now did I? Goblin King stepped in before I could."

"But you still thought about it."

"Which in no way is crime against you. I'm sure many dragons have thought that."

"You're the only dragon I know."

"Well… damn it Link! I pressed 'A'! Kill the damn spider!"

"You do know there's a dragon you have to kill in that game, right?"

"Of course, but it's a wimpy dragon. Deserves to be kill-RIGHT DAMN YOU! _RIGHT_!"

"It's nearing eleven," Jareth announced as he walked into the room.

"Is it?" both asked faintly, distracted by their electronics.

"Yes." When neither moved, he growled. "Which means stop playing games and leave so I can go to bed!"

The dragon scowled at him then snarled at the TV as his character died. "Damn it Link!" He clicked a few buttons before shutting it off and standing. "See you tomorrow Sarah."

"Later Arnie." The dragon disappeared.

Jareth sighed and flopped back onto the bed. "I can't understand why you two are such good friends."

"We're not friends," she replied, leaning to the side to jot a few things down. "We're complaining buddies."

"Even though he tried to eat you?"

"Yup."

"Hm…"

The two had become good 'friends' over the past year. After Sarah had wished, the dragon had reappeared numerous times to try and devour her. After the tenth time, she'd merely greet him as he tried to grab her only for his hand to burst into flames. After the twentieth time, she began leaving out cookies for his arrival. After the thirtieth time, he burst into a fit of tears and began complaining about his life while they ate cookies and shared stories.

Now it was a weekly ritual for the dragon to play video games and complain about his life while she worked on her stories or played against him and complained about hers. Jareth only tolerated it because it made him laugh when she'd beat him at a racing game and he'd try to bite her only for his mouth to fill with fire.

He waited a good fifteen minutes before sitting up with a sigh. "Are you almost finished?"

"Almost," she answered, eyes glued to the screen as her fingers tapped away. "My editor wants the manuscript by Monday and I'm still finishing the last chapter."

"You're not done with that yet?"

"No," she snapped. "I can't think of a good ending."

He was behind her suddenly, kneeling at her side to look at the screen. "How about, 'and so the demon had stolen her heart but in return she'd healed his.'"

She turned to look at him, quiet for a moment before scrunching her nose up. "That… is incredibly sappy."

"I know." He clicked the save button and turned off the computer.

"Hey!"

He picked her up and headed for the bed, setting her down. "It's time for sleep Sarah. I'm tired and your clickity-clackity is keeping me up." She scowled and slid beneath the covers, waiting until he'd gotten settled to shift over. "Besides, you need sleep if you're to finish your soon to be number one in the nation novel."

She smiled. "You really think so?"

"I know so." He kissed her forehead. "Now sleep my brilliant writer."

As Sarah cuddled up beside him, a small smile crossed her features. Her demon had indeed stolen her heart.

"Your heaviness is restricting my need for air."

Happiness gone.

She was so gonna kill him.

With a growl, she reached for her pillow. Why the hell did she ever listen to that stupid story? "Goblin King?"

"Hm?" he mumbled, half asleep already.

She raised the pillow above her head. "Remind me tomorrow morning, if you're still alive, to kill Kira for telling me about you."

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**To all readers and reviewers, **

And so ends Three Times! But don't be sad! Another Jaerth-is-a-demon story is coming out soon!

_**Of Demons and Goblin Kings**__  
Princess Sarah of Sylvan lived a quiet life, day after day, the same routine. When a demon, a fae, the same species that had slaughtered her mother years before drops in front of her, her routine shatters. But if he thinks she's just gonna roll over and let him kill her, he's got another thing coming._

Such shameless advertising huh?

But yes, Three Times is complete and finished. It was a great run! Thanks to all who read and enjoyed over the past 5months-13days! Thanks to everyone who reviewed/faved/watched!

Over and out!

**Kadasa Mori**


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